Joe Lieberman: “the announcement that Senator Pell has made today that he will retire from the Senate at the end of this term obviously…”

“the announcement that Senator Pell has made today that he will retire from the Senate at the end of this term obviously in one sense fills us with sadness because we will no longer have the benefit of his service and the pleasure of his company. In another sense, I would say it is not just sadness; it is a time to celebrate and express respect for an extraordinary career of service in the Senate. Claiborne Pell has run the race well and has an awful lot to be proud of. He leaves a legacy of great accomplishment. I think we will not only think first but quite significantly of the Pell grants. I do not know how many recipients of those Pell grants, whose lives have been changed by the opportunity Senator Pell's legislative leadership gave them as poor people to receive an education, know exactly who Claiborne Pell is, but they ought to know. He is a man who came to the Senate with a proud tradition of service in his family which he carried forward. He is a man who has measured himself by his accomplishments and by the principles which his service has reflected. The Pell grants may be the most visible of them because of the extent to which his name is attached to them, but that is only the beginning of his service. I think also of not only the other work he has done to support public education and broadening opportunity in this country but the pioneering work--and often the lonely work--he has done on behalf of the rule of law in international relations.”