Angie Craig: “allow me to add my voice to the chorus of regard for the distinguished senior Senator from North Carolina, Jesse Helms.…”

“allow me to add my voice to the chorus of regard for the distinguished senior Senator from North Carolina, Jesse Helms. There is a word we use a lot around here the word ``gentleman.'' Perhaps as a result of the demands of Senate protocol, our colleagues frequently use the word in addressing one another. It is thrown around so regularly that it has almost become as meaningless as ``mister'' in modern Congressional parlance. However, ``gentleman'' is more than a meaningless title in the case of Jesse Helms. I am not alone in referring to him as ``the conservative gentleman of the Senate'' because that is precisely what he is: an unfailingly gentle, kind, and courteous man. Even in the heat of battle, slicing through the opposition as he so often does, he maintains not just the integrity of his principles, but the integrity of his performance. Even when he establishes himself as the immovable object to block bad policy, as he also has done so often, he does it graciously. Senator Helms' restraint is all the more significant in view of the turbulence of the debates he has waded into. This is a man who does not back away from challenges but confronts them. His dedication to principle is unshakeable, and he is an invaluable ally in stormy political passages.”