Max Baucus: “I rise today to express the deepest respect for our distinguished majority leader, Senator Mitchell. When Senator…”

“I rise today to express the deepest respect for our distinguished majority leader, Senator Mitchell. When Senator Mitchell was appointed to this body, the conventional wisdom around this town was that he was going to be a short-timer. The word had spread inside the beltway that George Mitchell, with his reserved and judicious manner, would never make it in the rough and tumble world of elected politics. But those people did not know George Mitchell. With his landslide election in 1982, he and the voters of Maine proved the Washington pundits wrong. And just a little more than 4 years later, Senator Mitchell became our majority leader. I was among the first in this body to support George Mitchell, support him in his race for majority leader against two other outstanding Senators. While every Senator sometimes questions decisions he or she makes over the course of a career, I will never regret my support for George Mitchell. Like Montana's Mike Mansfield, George Mitchell has set the highest standards of ethics and public service. At a time when this institution faces much criticism, there can be no better role model or spokesman for the Senate than George Mitchell. While much of his success as a majority leader can be attributed to the skills of a great diplomat and smart negotiator, he is also a fighter--a fighter for the principles and ideals that I personally believe personify the Democratic Party.”