Orrin Hatch: “I rise to honor the achievements of my good friend and colleague, Senator Phil Gramm. After serving with him for 18…”

“I rise to honor the achievements of my good friend and colleague, Senator Phil Gramm. After serving with him for 18 years, it is difficult to remember that our Texas colleague began his career as a Democrat. After listening to him here today, I can see he is ending his career by going out with a bang. Phil Gramm is one of the most effective Senators who has ever sat in this body. In fact, even though he started out as a Democrat, he actually became one of the most effective conservatives in this body and a fixture on economic issues and a man who deserves much of the credit for changing the attitude of Congress about budget and fiscal responsibility. I know I am not the only Member of this body who is deeply grateful for the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings deficit-control legislation that Senator Gramm poured his heart into creating and sustaining over so many years. Another landmark bill that bears his name and is changing the course of the nation for good is the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999. He brought his classroom skills to bear on more than one occasion, patiently explaining basic economics to his fellow Senators, again and again and again. I, for one, am grateful for the opportunity to have been one of his students. Senator Gramm is also one of the Senate's most honest and forthright members, never hesitant to tell you exactly what he is thinking.”