Pete Domenici: “I came to the floor to say a few words about Senator Patrick Moynihan. Obviously, I didn't know him for all of his very…”

“I came to the floor to say a few words about Senator Patrick Moynihan. Obviously, I didn't know him for all of his very successful and rather stupendous life, but I knew him rather well for that portion spent in the Senate. Even as to that portion, it was not my privilege to spend a great deal of time on the same committees with the Senator. But it was obvious to me he was a very big man, not big only in stature--he was very tall--but clearly he spoke eloquently and could grasp the situation with a demeanor and in a manner that was not very common and ordinary here. From my standpoint, we struck up a friendship principally based upon his asking me a lot of questions about the budget and about my work as chairman or ranking member on the Senate floor. Today it was my privilege to attend, with my wife Nancy, his funeral mass and some of the other ceremonial events that bid him goodbye. My wife Nancy and I got to share with his marvelous wife Elizabeth; everybody calls her Liz. We had had on one occasion as couples an opportunity to travel with Senator Moynihan and his wife and others on a very lengthy trip that included China and other parts of the world, Japan. It was rather marvelous to have him regale us with stories and tales and history as we would be traveling from one country to another. When he was around on those kinds of events, you didn't have to have books to read.…”