Patrick Leahy: “I pay tribute to a colleague of ours whose career of public service may never be matched again in the history of our…”

“I pay tribute to a colleague of ours whose career of public service may never be matched again in the history of our country. My friend Strom Thurmond sits on the other side of the aisle of the Senate Chamber, but I consider him a friend with whom I have worked closely, and I will miss him. I remember when I was first sworn into the Senate in January of 1975. Because of a tied vote in the State of New Hampshire that election year, it was a matter that did not get resolved until we actually went back and did the election over in the middle of the year. I was the most junior Member of a 99-Member Senate. We did not have the Hart Building at the time. We had the Russell Building and the Dirksen Building, and a couple of us very junior Members were in basement offices. Senator Garn of Utah, Senator Laxalt of Nevada, and I were down in the dungeons. When we were sworn in, I had a small reception down there. I invited Members of the Senate to come, not thinking that anybody would actually show up. There were far more noteworthy people being sworn in that day, some to begin subsequent terms, others newly elected. I remember standing there with my mother and father, and one of the very first people to come through that door was Strom Thurmond, walking arm in arm with John Stennis of Mississippi. I remember Strom welcoming me to the Senate and telling my mother and father I seemed like a nice young man, and that I might actually have a career ahead of me.”