Dick Lugar: “I am overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness and graciousness of both leaders, my friends Bill Frist and Tom Daschle. I thank…”

“I am overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness and graciousness of both leaders, my friends Bill Frist and Tom Daschle. I thank both of them for those very wonderful comments. I will take a moment, if I may, to thank some other people, people of Indiana, who made it possible for me to be in the Senate to cast the 10,000 votes, those who gave me their confidence, their support, and their prayers throughout the years. I especially thank the Lord above for giving me good health throughout that period of time and who made it possible to do this. I must pay tribute, as we all are doing today, to Lloyd Ogilvie whose personal counsel and support to me and my family during the past 8 years has meant so much. Of course, behind all of this is the confidence and love of my wife Charlene, our boys, and their wives, who have really sustained me, who said this is something we ought to be doing, a commitment of our time and our lives in a way that has been exciting for me and I hope for them. My staff has made it possible for me to get to the Chamber for all of these votes. Wherever we are in the country, in Washington or at the airport, each one of us is indebted to staff who tell us when the votes are going to occur and give us some reasonable idea about what is being voted on. I pay tribute to each one of those persons. I pay tribute to colleagues who have sustained me each day with their loyal friendship, likewise the sheer vigor of the experience.”