David Cay Johnston: “just for one moment, I want to congratulate, of course, the Senator from Texas for her leadership, but the Senator from…”

“just for one moment, I want to congratulate, of course, the Senator from Texas for her leadership, but the Senator from Georgia for his leadership on this issue, which is just another one of those issues in which, through the years, he has led this Senate, has led this country in its political thinking. Most Senators of this body are content to properly represent their people, to reflect their political views, to be popular in the polls, to vote right, to vote in the national good. Other Senators like to think of themselves as being effective enough to be able to take the ideas of others which they agree with, to take the speeches, to take the bills, to take the thoughts of others and effectively represent those thoughts and feelings and bills out here on the floor of the Senate so as to move the country in the right direction. There are occasional Senators, Mr. President, by virtue of their wisdom, their training, their background, their effort, their industry, their dedication, their devotion, but mainly by virtue of their God-given gifts, who are able to lead, to conceive the ideas by which the country ought to move, to determine what those policies are and, in the process, to serve as the beacon, the guidepost by which the rest of us Senators may guide our thoughts and our policies and our votes. The Senator from Georgia [Mr. Nunn] is one of those rare individuals.…”