Chuck Grassley: “I rise to tell the Senator from Vermont that I am going to miss him in the Senate and still consider him a friend. I…”

“I rise to tell the Senator from Vermont that I am going to miss him in the Senate and still consider him a friend. I hope to have a long relationship with him, even in his retirement. I am that Senator that Jim Jeffords, the Senator from Vermont, referred to as the one remaining Republican of the class of 1974. There were 17 of us. I think there were about 70 Democrats. It was a bad year for Republicans. You couldn't even put the word Republican on your literature. It was the year Nixon resigned. There were only 140 of us in the House of Representatives at that time. I don't know whether Senator Jeffords felt this way, but I felt this way, that it was probably the end of the Republican Party. Well, I was wrong. He and I have been reelected to serve together, to serve our respective constituents. I remember Senator Jeffords as an outstanding member of the Agriculture Committee in the House of Representatives the 6 years I served on that committee. Then there was a period of time where I was a Member of the Senate and he still stayed in the House of Representatives. Our friendship still held. But working together--you know how it is in Congress, the House and Senate; there is a Grand Canyon between us sometimes, and we don't communicate as much as we ought to. Consequently, it was like getting reacquainted with Senator Jeffords again when he came to the Senate. I was glad then and I am very glad now that he continued his service.”