Arlen Specter: “I sought recognition for a number of purposes. But first, let me congratulate my distinguished colleague, the senior…”

“I sought recognition for a number of purposes. But first, let me congratulate my distinguished colleague, the senior Senator from Mississippi, for casting his 10,000th vote today. Senator Cochran came to the Senate after the 1978 election, having served previously in the House of Representatives for 6 years, and has had an illustrious career. He served on the Judiciary Committee for 2 years and demonstrated, at an early point in his Senate career, his wisdom by leaving the Judiciary Committee after only 2 years. All those hot-button issues--school prayer, abortion, flag burning, et cetera--were not for Senator Cochran. He was on the big issues of the day and specialized in appropriations. He has been the distinguished chairman of the Appropriations Committee and has an outstanding record. I challenge anybody to search the record, 10,000 votes, and find any mistakes by Senator Cochran. It has been, truly, an outstanding career. Beyond his extraordinary capability as a Senator, he is always of good cheer, always personable, always upbeat. He has made a great contribution to the Senate and to the House before that. He will have many more years of very distinguished service for the Senate. ____________________”