John Sarbanes: “I wish to pay tribute to our wonderful colleague and dear friend Ed Muskie who passed away late last month. A…”

“I wish to pay tribute to our wonderful colleague and dear friend Ed Muskie who passed away late last month. A distinguished public servant, an accomplished legislator, and a man of great integrity and humanity, Edmund Sixtus Muskie represented the best of the Senate and of the Nation. Throughout his career in public service Senator Muskie exhibited a rare and remarkable gift; his extraordinary ability to see opportunities where others could not and to translate those opportunities into positive changes for the people of Maine and the Nation. Ed Muskie began his career of dedicated public service in the Maine Legislature where he initially served as part of a small Democratic minority. From this modest beginning, he assumed the reins of the Maine Democratic party and revitalized it by exercising the vision and leadership necessary to involve people more fully in the political process. His efforts led to his own election as Maine's first Democratic governor in 20 years, and in 1958, he became the first popularly elected Democratic Senator in Maine's history.”