Political Quotes

“earlier this week, the Senate passed a resolution recognizing the life and career of Senator Jim Jeffords. This Vermont icon passed away over the August recess, nearly 8 years after concluding a decades-long career in public service. That career, marked by historic moments on the national stage, was one in which Vermont came first. I ask unanimous consent that an article from the Burlington Free Press, ``Tributes pour in for Vermont GOP giant Jeffords,'' be printed in the Record at the conclusion of my remarks. Jim and I came to Washington together in 1975, he to represent Vermont as our lone Member in the House of Representatives, and I as Vermont's first Democratic Senator. But our years working together go back further, to the days when I was a State's attorney in Chittenden County, and he the State's attorney general. Our families knew each other. Marcelle and Liz knew each other well, having both attended Cathedral High School in Burlington. Both Jim and I would readily acknowledge that our wives were the hearts and souls of our families. That longtime relationship served us and Vermont well when Jim came to the Senate in 1989. Together, we worked to protect Vermont's dairy farmers, to preserve Vermont's celebrated natural landscape, and to give Vermont a strong and powerful voice in Washington. I joined many Vermonters in celebrating Jim's life last month in his home town of Rutland.…”