Thomas Daschle: “on Saturday, I had a chance to talk about our good friend, Dale Bumpers. I'd like to take a few minutes to talk about…”

“on Saturday, I had a chance to talk about our good friend, Dale Bumpers. I'd like to take a few minutes to talk about four other friends who will be leaving us at the end of this Congress. Shortly after he left the White House, Calvin Coolidge was called on to fill out a standard form. After filling in his name and address, he came to a line marked ``occupation.'' He wrote ``retired.'' When he came to the next line, labeled ``remarks,'' he wrote ``Glad of it.'' I suspect that our colleagues who are retiring at the end of this Congress are also ``glad of it''--at least in some small measure. But, in addition to relief, I hope they also feel a sense of pride--both for what they have accomplished here, and the dignity with which they have served. In a short time here, Dirk Kempthorne has made all of our lives a little better. Thanks in large part to him, the Safe Drinking Water Act is now the law. Senator Kempthorne has also reminded us of the importance of state and local involvement in our decisions. We will all miss him.”