Max Cleland: “I want to say a word of gratitude and thanks to the distinguished senior Senator from West Virginia for several…”

“I want to say a word of gratitude and thanks to the distinguished senior Senator from West Virginia for several observations. First of all, as the war clouds gather in the Balkans, hopefully this Nation and NATO will not be drawn into war. If we are drawn into war, I hope we will, as a country, keep in mind the axiom by Baron von Clausewitz that one must know the last step one takes in terms of war before one takes the first step. That should be fully debated here on the floor of the Senate. The distinguished senior Senator from West Virginia had some wonderful observations about life itself and about spring. I could not help but identify with his wonderful comments about his great granddaughter and his love for tomatoes and the things that grow in the spring. My father has a similar love for vegetable gardens and particularly for Better Boy and Big Boy tomatoes. I was very touched by Senator Byrd's comments about me, and I appreciate his thoughts immensely. The last week or two has been fascinating in my life where I learned some things about my own experience in war that have, in effect, triggered a lot of the emotions of war and, hopefully, will lead to a deeper healing of the wounds I incurred there. The story is in the Hill newspaper, and Senator Byrd was kind enough to enter that into the Congressional Record. I thank him personally for that, and it is an honor to be serving with him. He has been one of my personal heroes for many, many years.”