Max Baucus: “I join with my colleagues to pay tribute to Paul Coverdell. I have listened to a lot of tributes today. There have been…”

“I join with my colleagues to pay tribute to Paul Coverdell. I have listened to a lot of tributes today. There have been so many themes, including cheerfulness, optimism, a welcome hand, no rancor, no bitterness. We all know that to be Paul Coverdell. I want that to mention one incident which, for me, encapsulates it all. It is going to be the incident that is defining for me. Whenever I think of Paul, I will always think of this incident, and I always will. This outfit--the Senate--tends to be a little partisan. Over the years, it has become too partisan, almost as two armed camps, one over there and one over here. It is regrettable, but that is something that has occurred and evolved up here in the Senate. Not too many years ago, I was in Atlanta, GA, speaking at an event. I neglected, as is a common courtesy, to tell Senator Coverdell I was there. Sam Nunn was a Senator at the time. I didn't tell Paul I was having an event in Georgia, his home State. I felt kind of bad about it. But like a lot of us, I kind of pushed it to the side and rationalized that it was not that important. Lo and behold, at that same hotel, Paul was speaking about three or four rooms away, and I heard about it. I said to myself: Oh, my gosh, Max, how stupid you are; why didn't you tell him? How guilty I felt. Oh, my gosh, here I am in Paul's home State and he doesn't even know I am here. I am in his State and he is just down the hall. I thought: You blew it, Max.…”