Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to recognize a former Member of this body and my long-time friend and mentor, Senator Jim Abdnor of South Dakota. Senator Abdnor passed away last Wednesday, May 16, 2012, in South Dakota in the company of friends and family. We are both products of the dusty short-grass country just west of the Missouri River on the plains of central South Dakota. Jim was a product of the active and civically-minded political culture of Lyman County and I was from next door Jones County. Despite these counties' sports rivalries over the years, Jim took me under his wing and introduced me to the American political process. If not for Jim Abdnor, I would not be standing here today. After a basketball game when I was a freshman in high school, Jim struck up a conversation with me that would change the course of my life. I went to work for Jim as a legislative assistant when he was a Senator and later at the Small Business Administration. When I first ran for office, Jim's guidance and support were invaluable to me. This past weekend, hundreds of South Dakotans came out to honor Jim Abdnor and remember his great love for them and his state. His funeral was held in a Lutheran church in the shadow of the State capital in Pierre, where Jim first served in statewide office as Lieutenant Governor. Jim was buried just outside of his small hometown of Kennebec near where his immigrant father first homesteaded. Mr.…”