Orrin Hatch: “I rise to speak in honor of my good friend--and legend--the distinguished Senator from South Carolina, Strom Thurmond.…”

“I rise to speak in honor of my good friend--and legend--the distinguished Senator from South Carolina, Strom Thurmond. From the moment Strom Thurmond set foot in this Chamber in 1954, he has been setting records. He was the only person ever elected to the Senate on a write-in-vote. He set the record for the longest speech on the Senate floor, clocked at an astounding 24 hours and 18 minutes. He is the longest serving Senator in the history of the Senate. As he approaches his 100th birthday, he is also the oldest serving Senator. Many of my colleagues will recall the momentous occasion in September of 1998 when he cast his 15,000th vote in the Senate. With these and so many other accomplishments over the years, he has appropriately been referred to as 'an institution within an institution.' In 1902, the year Strom Thurmond was born, life expectancy was 51 years--and today it is 77 years. Strom continues to prove that, by any measure, he is anything but average. He has seen so much in his life.”