[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16700]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        COMMENDING SENATOR LEAHY

  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, I want to reflect on the comments the 
senior Senator from Vermont has shared. I want to say to Senator Leahy 
that what he has reflected in the course of his career of casting 
15,000 votes, spanned over four decades in the Senate--some would say 
the courtliness, the gentlemanliness, the bipartisanship, the 
deference, the respect, the honor--some would say these are old-
fashioned ideas.
  This Senator happens to feel they are American values, and how often 
have we seen those characteristics not on display? Tonight the House of 
Representatives is going to pass not only raising the debt ceiling so 
we can pay our bills but also a budget template--a blueprint--under 
which we can then appropriate the specifics.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for one moment?
  Mr. NELSON. Absolutely.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the Senator from Florida and I have been 
friends for decades. To get this praise from a man who served with 
distinction as a Congressman, a Senator, and an astronaut means a great 
deal to me. I thank him.
  Mr. NELSON. The Senator is very gracious, but I stood to comment upon 
the characteristics he has exemplified in his public life that is a 
role model for all of us. I was about to say, here we are seeing 
tonight that the U.S. Congress is going to be able to move ahead 
without falling off the fiscal cliff because there is going to be a 
bipartisan vote in the House of Representatives. My goodness gracious, 
isn't this what it is supposed to be all about?
  The Senator from Vermont can remember well over 30 years ago when 
this Senator was a young Congressman, and the role models in the House 
of Representatives at the time were Tip O'Neill and Bob Michel--the 
Democratic speaker and the leader of the Republicans. They had their 
fights, and at the end of the day they were personal friends. They had 
a personal relationship. They then could work out all the thorny 
problems and build consensus in order to govern.
  I thank the Senator from Vermont.

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