[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18018-18019]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTES TO DEPARTING SENATORS


                             Jeff Bingaman

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I wish to take a few minutes today to honor 
my colleague, the senior Senator from New Mexico, Jeff Bingaman, as he 
retires from a long career of service to our country.
  For 30 years Senator Bingaman has been a dedicated representative of 
the people of New Mexico, but for 26 of those years he was the junior 
Senator from New Mexico. The only person I know of who was a junior 
Senator longer than Senator Bingaman was Fritz Hollings. He was a 
junior Senator for many decades to Strom Thurmond. But 26 years as a 
junior Senator still makes you a fairly senior Senator. Jeff served 
alongside Senator Pete Domenici, the longest serving Senator in New 
Mexico's history. Until 2009 he was the most senior junior Senator.
  Jeff Bingaman has never been one to get hung up on titles and 
credits. If there was ever a conscience of this body, it is Jeff 
Bingaman, a man who has been called by others, including Byron Dorgan, 
a workhorse. That is really true. For three decades he has quietly but 
diligently fought for the people of New Mexico and this country.
  American industrialist Henry Kaiser once gave this bit of advice: 
``When your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt.'' And that is Jeff 
Bingaman. That could have been written for Jeff Bingaman by Henry 
Kaiser. That has been Jeff Bingaman's motto for years. He is not one 
for flashy press conferences. Most of the time he is too busy.
  Jeff learned humility in the small town of Silver City, NM, where he 
grew up. His father was a professor and his mom a teacher, and they 
instilled in him a love and appreciation for education--and that is an 
understatement. He got his bachelor's degree from Harvard and his law 
degree from Stanford. Those are two of the finest educational 
institutions in the world, and he has a degree from both of them, 
Harvard and Stanford.
  At Stanford, where he was going to law school, he met his wonderful 
wife Anne. I have such warmth for this woman. We have traveled 
together. I can remember trips we took on Senate codels; she was always 
the life of the party. She is a great match for Jeff--Jeff being quiet, 
subdued; Anne, not always so. I love them both. Anne is a political 
powerhouse in her own right. She served 3 years as head of the 
Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice under President Bill 
Clinton.
  After they finished their law degrees, Jeff and Anne returned to New 
Mexico, and they both entered the private practice of law. There, Jeff 
spent 6 years in the Army Reserve, and at that time he and Anne had 
their son John. Senator Bingaman served a year as assistant attorney 
general before being elected attorney general of New Mexico in 1978. 
Four years later he was elected to the U.S. Senate.
  As time evolves here, you see it in the face of our children. I can 
remember that when I first came to this body, Jeff had already been 
here 4 years. We had our Senate retreats, and there was little John, 
and I watched him grow as we did the retreats. I saw him just a short 
time ago, this handsome young man, now working on his own in New York 
in a very important job.
  In addition to being a committed advocate for the people of New 
Mexico, Jeff has been a distinguished chairman of the Energy and 
Natural Resources Committee. As chairman, he has pushed for solutions 
to perhaps the greatest crisis of our time: global climate change. He 
has run into brick walls many times. As the Presiding Officer knows, it 
has been difficult to get

[[Page 18019]]

much done. But it is not because Jeff Bingaman hasn't tried. I am so 
disappointed that Jeff is leaving that committee with so much 
unfinished work. Certain Senators have held up hundreds of bills in 
that committee. What a shame. But that is what has happened.
  The Energy Policy Act of 2005--passed thanks to Senator Bingaman's 
leadership--changed the Federal Government's role in energy policy. It 
created energy efficiency and renewable tax credits that have grown the 
crucial green energy industry. He led that charge. Two years later Jeff 
guided Congress to raise vehicle fuel efficiency standards for the 
first time in 32 years.
  Senator Bingaman also serves on the Finance Committee. He is tireless 
there, whether working on ObamaCare--and he was instrumental in the 
progress of that, working with Senator Baucus, Senator Conrad, and 
others. He has also served on the Joint Economic Committee. He has been 
a valued Democratic Member of this body. In the caucus, he has been 
terrific.
  He has been someone I can call upon to ask for advice. Over the years 
we have served together, he didn't come and visit with me often, but 
when Jeff Bingaman wanted to see me, I knew immediately that he had 
thought through and knew what he wanted to talk about and knew what he 
wanted me to help him with. I think so much of him, I admire him, and I 
appreciate him. I will always remember this good man and the work he 
has done. I am sorry to see this brilliant, hard-working leader depart 
this body.
  When Jeff announced his retirement a couple years ago, this is what 
he said:

       It is not easy to get elected to the Senate, and it is not 
     easy to decide to leave the Senate. There is important work 
     that remains to be done. That is true today, and it will be 
     the case at the end of this Congress. It will be true at the 
     end of every future Congress as well.

  Again, he hit the mark: There is plenty of important work left to be 
done. I am only sorry he won't be here to help us do that work.
  I congratulate Senator Bingaman and his wife Anne on their long, 
productive careers. I wish them the very best in the years to come.

                          ____________________