Joseph T. Burns: “we find ourselves in a predicament as old friends. Of course, we are this morning talking about our friend Slade Gorton…”

“we find ourselves in a predicament as old friends. Of course, we are this morning talking about our friend Slade Gorton from the State of Washington. In a way, we were classmates. We came here in 1988. Of course, it was not his first time here, since he was defeated in 1986 and then came back and won reelection in 1988. We had a lot of things in common--not only representing the Northwestern part of these 48 contiguous States. We also have great friendship and we served on some of the same committees. I took from him great lessons about this body and how to represent our constituencies. He and Sally have been friends with Phyllis and me for all these many years while he has been serving in his second and third terms. We in Montana have a quality that I think will become more and more admired as this country grows and matures. We are brutally honest with each other in that part of the world. Slade Gorton is that kind of a person. He is probably the most pragmatic of all of our Members with whom I have had an opportunity to serve in this body, and he is brutally honest.”