Cord Byrd: “He was opposed. When the Senator from New Mexico is opposed, I pay even more attention to him. Anyhow, after each…”

“He was opposed. When the Senator from New Mexico is opposed, I pay even more attention to him. Anyhow, after each meeting, our friends would walk away with plans for spreading the good word in favor of our plan, charged up with a pep talk by Phil Gramm. He also has a talent, a great talent, for negotiating. Even when he wins a negotiation and you have lost everything, he can make you feel like you prevailed and he lost everything. Suddenly, on the way home you will pinch yourself and say, wait a minute, that is not quite the way it was. So this is Phil Gramm, a biting, partisan bulldog one minute, and a gentle, cuddly puppy the next. At times, it is difficult to decide if you should jump back in fright or reach out and pet him. He is one of those rare Members of Congress who has had a powerful impact not only upon this institution but on our country and its policies. Just last year, the National Review pointed out that no Member of Congress--not Jack Kemp, not Newt Gingrich, not Bob Dole-- played a more decisive role in launching the Reagan agenda. Phil Gramm is perhaps this country's most consistent and strongest promoter of smaller taxes and smaller government. The legislation he has authored, sponsored and promoted, from Gramm-Latta to Gramm-Rudman, to the Bush tax cuts, give the lie to Emerson's observation that a ``foolish consistency is the hobgoblin'' of little minds. It is also the hobgoblin of big minds. Phil Gramm definitely has a big mind.…”