Political Quotes

“John Chafee was a gentleman with every quality that term connotes. He always treated everyone with the utmost respect. He was unfailingly courteous to everyone. I never heard him utter a bad word about anyone. He took his job very seriously, but he did not take himself seriously. He always evaluated proposals, first asking what his constituents would think about them. He always sought to accommodate me, personally. I recall the last request I made of him to break some precedents and quickly get a bill through to name a U.S. courthouse in Phoenix for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor because we did have to break some precedents in order to accomplish that. He did it with no problem whatever. Others have detailed his considerable service to this country, and I will not repeat that. However, it runs the gamut from military service to service in the Senate and much, much more. I simply want to recall John Chafee, the marine, the gentleman. If every one of us in this Chamber comported ourselves as Senator Chafee did, the Senate would be a much better place. That is a legacy that any person, I believe, would be proud to have. It is John Chafee's legacy. He will be missed. But he will be remembered. God bless John Chafee and his family.”