Cord Byrd: “I pay tribute today to Senator James Exon, who is completing his third term in the Senate and has unfortunately, decided…”

“I pay tribute today to Senator James Exon, who is completing his third term in the Senate and has unfortunately, decided to retire. His retirement caps a long and distinguished career of public service unique to his home State of Nebraska. Jim Exon and I have served together on the Armed Services Committee, and I have admired his strong support of our national defense. At the same time, as a conservative, and as ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee, Senator Exon has had a practical, direct, moderate temperament which has put him in tune with national sentiment on the need to control spending. He has been a leader of efforts to balance the budget, and that includes a need to reduce defense spending where possible, given the end of the cold war, and particularly in tempering the tendency to throw too much money on expensive new hardware systems. Jim Exon is against waste and he has put his legislative shoulders behind that effort. He would agree with William Shakespeare, who wrote in King Henry V: I can get no remedy against this consumption of the purse: borrowing only lingers and lingers it out, but the disease is incurable. Jim Exon will be missed here. I shall miss his candid style, his no-nonsense temperament, and his refreshing directness, all of which are mixed with a down-home sense of humor.”