Political Quotes

“I rise to speak briefly in honor of our friend and colleague, the senior Senator from Connecticut. I have watched him from the day I came here. We knew each other a little bit when I was in the House. He left the House to go to the Senate, but we had many of the same friends when I came to the House. I always marveled at his abilities. For those of us who have served here--I have only been here 12 years--we know the joys and difficulties of legislating in the Senate. We know it is not easy, and we know how satisfying it is. There are very few who reach the acme of how to do it and who devote their lives to it. I guess they are given a title--I don't know if it is official; it is probably not--they are the 'men and women of the Senate.' We have had two leave us in the last year: Senator Robert Byrd and Senator Ted Kennedy. They were truly men of the Senate. It is not a title bestowed easily or lightly or frequently. Chris Dodd is a man of the Senate. He is in the category of Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd in terms of his ability to get things done, his ability as a legislative craftsman, as somebody who is able to combine idealism and practicality, as somebody who is able to sit down with someone, as has been mentioned before, with a totally different viewpoint and get them to compromise and be on his side and be part of the effort he is leading. He is a man of the Senate. He will always be a man of the Senate.”