Patrick Leahy: “let me note--it has probably been noted here on the floor already--that it is so much nicer to hear your eulogy in…”

“let me note--it has probably been noted here on the floor already--that it is so much nicer to hear your eulogy in person than afterward. In many ways you know it is more heartfelt because the Senator from Mississippi is here and has the ability to correct it, something he would not have 40 years or so from now when he might rejoin his Maker. I think, though, about Trent Lott. Trent is one of those Senators who has great respect on both sides of the aisle. I think it is because he is from the old school. I do not want to damage his reputation in Mississippi to have one of the more liberal members of the opposite party praise him, but I do it easily. Because, as I told Trent within an hour after he made his announcement--we were on the phone, and I told him that one of the things I liked about him is he followed that rule Mike Mansfield told me my first week here in the Senate: Senators should always keep their word. Every time Senator Lott and I have worked together, to find our way, sometimes through a very tangled parliamentary or legislative morass, we got through because I could always count on him once he made a commitment to keep his word and he would keep his commitment. I think he knows I did the same with him. As Senator Mansfield tried to instruct all of us, those of us who were here at that time, this is the mark of what a real Senator should do.”