[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 3074-3075]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY LEADER


                        a longstanding tradition

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader is recognized.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I thank very much the Senator from Maine, 
Mr. King, for his fluent reading of President George Washington's 
Farewell Address, a message to the American people at the close of his 
great Presidency--the first Presidency.
  The annual reading of the farewell address is one of the Senate's 
longstanding traditions. The custom began in 1862 as a commemoration of 
the 130th anniversary of President Washington's birth. It was intended 
to boost congressional morale during the Civil War.
  As then-Senator Andrew Johnson--by the way, I have a great painting 
of President Johnson in my office. I always tell people who come to my 
office to contrast that with the statue of President Johnson when he 
was Vice President. I have the good fortune of having Andrew Johnson's 
desk at the time Lincoln was assassinated. I have that beautiful piece 
of furniture in my office. It is stunningly beautiful. I haven't had a 
chance to talk about that before, so I took this opportunity.
  As then-Senator Andrew Johnson of Tennessee said before the first 
recitation of the address:

       The time has arrived when we should recur back to the days, 
     the times, and doings of

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     Washington and the patriots of the Revolution, who founded 
     the government under which we live.

  In 1888--the 100th anniversary of the Constitution's ratification--
the Senate then observed the ritual, and every year since 1896 the 
Senate has marked Washington's birthday, honored his legacy, and 
recurred back to those who founded the government under which we live, 
as we did today with the reading of Washington's Farewell Address.
  As Senator King mentioned, President Washington prepared the address 
with input from James Madison, America's fourth President, as well as 
Alexander Hamilton, the Nation's first Treasury Secretary. Similar to 
our Nation's founding documents, including the Constitution, the 
Farewell Address was a collaboration between the great minds of our 
country's formative years. Each year, for 118 years, the Senate selects 
one of its Members, alternating parties, to deliver these valedictory 
remarks.
  I am pleased the Senator from Maine, an avid student of history--and 
he truly is--was able to carry on this important tradition today. 
Senator King has delivered unique aspects of history to our caucus and, 
of course, on the Senate floor he has no parallel to his being able to 
pinpoint times of history. I admire him very much, as we all do.
  With this bipartisan custom of honoring our Nation's founder fresh in 
our minds, the Senate embarks on a fresh work period today. I hope this 
session will be marked by a tone of cooperation. Washington's 
collaboration with Madison and Hamilton, among others, is proof enough 
that when patriots collaborate with the country's good in mind the 
product is vastly improved. Too often over the past few years our two 
parties have found themselves working at odds instead of pulling 
together for a common purpose. I hope to change that this work period.
  In addition to considering a number of important nominations, the 
Senate will consider legislation that should draw overwhelming support 
from Members of both parties, a bill sponsored by the Senator from 
Vermont Mr. Sanders which expands health care and benefits for our 
Nation's veterans.
  I also hope Democrats and Republicans will work together to pass the 
child care block development grant bill this period. It is bipartisan 
in nature, and I think it should pass. This measure ensures working 
families have safe child care options, protecting both children and 
working parents. This bipartisan bill, as well as the veterans measure 
we will consider this week, will offer an opportunity for Democrats and 
Republicans to find common ground and work together.

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