On the recordOctober 10, 2001
today is one of the days I have had kind of a bittersweet experience. For me, the bittersweet experience was going to the funeral of the former distinguished majority leader of the Senate for 16 years, Mike Mansfield; bitter because you never want to see such a person and such a giant's life come to an end; sweet though because he had 98 very fulfilling years. At the end of those 98 years, we listened to the tales from his family, associates, and others who reminded all of us what a great man he was. The irony is that Senator Mansfield would not have let any one of us talk on at such length and be so praiseworthy about him here on the floor. He was very modest. But I thought of the wonderful moments that could remind each other--those of us who had the privilege of serving with Senator Mansfield and those of us who came later--of what a great man he was.
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