Political Quotes

“when our colleague from Rhode Island announced his retirement, I could not help but think of what a gentleman he is and what an example he has set for this body over the course of his 35-year career in the Senate. He is the walking embodiment of civility, a reminder of the days when politics and public service were indeed kinder and gentler. First elected in 1960, Claiborne Pell is not only Rhode Island's senior public servant, but also one of the Nation's senior statesmen. Only Senators Thurmond and Byrd have served here longer. He is one of the best arguments around today against term limits on Members of Congress. Senator Pell's father, Herbert Claiborne Pell, Jr., served as a Congressman from New York from 1919 to 1921 and was a close friend of Franklin Roosevelt and minister to Portugal and Hungary. He had five other relatives who served in Congress as well. The younger Pell himself served as a foreign service officer for several years, then settled in Newport, along with the Vanderbilts and Auchinclosses. Most of us know him as the quiet, deliberate, thoughtful chairman, and now ranking member, of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was present at the birth of the United Nations in San Francisco 50 years ago, and today carries a copy of the U.N. Charter in his coat pocket.”