Trent Lott: “I wish him well. However, I do want to take a moment to pay tribute to the gentleman he succeeded--a man of integrity…”

“I wish him well. However, I do want to take a moment to pay tribute to the gentleman he succeeded--a man of integrity, of kindness, and of singular achievement--Senator Larry Pressler. I have known Larry Pressler throughout his entire 22 year career of public service in the Congress, beginning with his first election to the House of Representatives in 1974. Though a young man when he first took the oath of Office, he already had distinguished himself in other fields--as student body president at the University of South Dakota, a Rhodes Scholar, a U.S. Army Lieutenant in Vietnam, and a Harvard Law and Kennedy School graduate. I knew then that the people of South Dakota had sent an exceptional human being. I didn't realize how right I was at the time. In 1978, he was elected to the Senate--the first of several Vietnam veterans we are honored to call our Senate colleagues. For 18 years--three terms in office--he served the Senate, his State and his country ably and responsibly. All who know or have known Larry Pressler are keenly aware how much he holds public service in high regard.”