Bob Dole: “like all Members of this Chamber, I was surprised last Friday by the announcement that the distinguished majority leader…”

“like all Members of this Chamber, I was surprised last Friday by the announcement that the distinguished majority leader had decided not to seek reelection. I have said many times before that the U.S. Senate could not operate effectively if the majority leader and the minority leader did not trust each other. And while the majority leader and I may not share a political philosophy or a voting record, one thing we have shared these past 5 years is a friendship based on complete respect and trust. For some, politics is a game of secret strategies and attempting to confuse and surprise your opponents. For George Mitchell, however, politics and public service are not games--they are opportunities to make a difference in the life of our Nation and her people. As we sought to make that difference, George Mitchell never told me anything but the truth. I may have disagreed, but I knew that his word was his absolute bond. The values exhibited by George Mitchell every day--values of honesty, decency, and civility--are values he learned from his father, an orphan who worked as a janitor at Maine's Colby College, and his mother, a Lebanese immigrant.”