{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2000-12-15-pt1-PgS11823", "2000-12-15", 106, 2, null, null, "RETIREMENT OF SENATOR BOB KERREY", "SENATE", "SENATE", "RETIREMENT", "S11823", "S11823", "[{\"name\": \"Patrick J. Leahy\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", null, "146 Cong. Rec. S11823", "Congressional Record, Volume 146 Issue 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)]\n[Senate]\n[Page S11823]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n[[Page S11823]]\n                    RETIREMENT OF SENATOR BOB KERREY\n\n  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, last January we were told that Senator Bob\nKerrey was going to retire from the Senate this year. I remember saying\nto him that I wished it were not so, but knowing Bob as well as I did,\nI understood the reasons.\n  Bob Kerrey has been an invaluable Member of this body. He has\nadvocated for improvements in education. He has worked in a bipartisan\nway to reform Medicare and has been willing to speak up about the\nthings necessary to reform it. He has helped to improve the lives of\nfarmers in Nebraska. And he has been a forceful voice on America's role\nthroughout the world.\n  But I understand and respect his desire to fulfill those spiritual\nneeds that are often ignored in politics and to focus more on his\npersonal and family life. As a proud father and grandfather, I, too,\nwant to spend time with family. So we can all respect and appreciate\nhis decision, though we are going to miss his candor, his wit, and his\nstrong advocacy for families and children in the Senate. I will miss\none who was willing to stand up on the most explosive issues of our\ntime and speak out forthrightly, whether popular or not.\n  He served this country well as a member of the elite Navy Seals in\nVietnam, was Governor of Nebraska, and a U.S. Senator for two terms.\n  I once heard him refer to it modestly as ``whatever,'' but the\n``whatever'' was the Congressional Medal of Honor he earned for service\nin Vietnam. It is a testament to his strength in the face of adversity\nand intense love he has for this country. It is a call he brought with\nhim to the Senate.\n  A photograph I took once sticks in my mind. It was of Bob Kerrey at\nthe Inaugural, standing--suit, tie, overcoat, hat--and around his neck\nwas something that very few Americans ever got to wear, the\nCongressional Medal of Honor. It is not something about which any of us\never heard Bob brag. But it has been my experience that people who win\nthe Congressional Medal of Honor are really never the people who do\nbrag.\n  I thought that here, in these extraordinary times of our Nation's\nhistory, every 4 years the Inauguration of a President, what Bob was\nsaying was: I am standing up as an American saying how proud we are of\nthis democracy as we go forward with our form of government--a\ngovernment and a country he risked his life to defend.\n  What has he accomplished at this short time? Vice chairman of the\nSenate Select Committee on Intelligence where he protected and defended\nour national security interests and fought for issues from encryption\nto better intelligence. As cochairman of the IRS restructuring\ncommittee, Bob spearheaded reform legislation designed to improve the\nrelationships between taxpayers and the IRS, something that affects\nevery single American. On the Agriculture Committee, he and I fought\nhard to protect family farmers in our Nation. Even if we had regional\ndifferences which might divide us, his advocacy was always so strong,\nyou had to listen.\n  His next move is north, actually getting a little closer to my home,\nwhere he is going to become president of the New School University in\nNew York. The New School has a reputation for intellectual freedom and\ninnovation, the belief that education can be used as a tool to produce\npositive changes in society. There cannot be a better leader for the\nNew School. This really is a case where the Senate's loss is the New\nSchool's gain.\n  I first met Bob Kerrey when he was running for the Senate and I went\nout to Nebraska as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee to\ncampaign for him along with the Senator from Nebraska, Mr. Jim Exon.\nWhen we went out--Bob Kerrey probably won't mind me mentioning this--we\nwere using Willie Nelson's airplane. Bob Kerrey was the former Governor\nof Nebraska, extremely popular, well known, running for the U.S.\nSenate; Jim Exon, then the senior Senator of Nebraska, former Governor;\nand of course in farm country, I was there wearing my hat as chairman\nof the Senate Agriculture Committee.\n  We flew up to a small town in Nebraska in Willie Nelson's airplane.\nThe tail insignia was well known. When we got off that airplane, a huge\ncrowd was gathered. We thought: Boy, this is it: Former Governor\nKerrey, Senator Jim Exon, Chairman Patrick Leahy. Man, no wonder they\nturned out.\n  As we got off the plane, they kept looking and kept looking, until\nfinally it was obvious we were all off the plane. There was a look of\ndisappointment in the crowd. Finally, somebody expressed the\ndisappointment: Where's Willie Nelson? I thought you guys had Willie\nNelson with you.\n  But, notwithstanding the fact that I was partially responsible for\ndisappointing the crowd, Bob Kerrey's abilities and brilliance were so\nwell known in Nebraska that he survived my campaigning for him and he\nwon that seat resoundingly and served his second term. We have been\nfriends ever since.\n  I admire him as I have admired few people in my public career. I hate\nto see him go.\n  As I said, I was saddened to learn that Bob Kerrey was retiring from\nthe Senate this year. Bob Kerrey has been an invaluable Member of this\nbody, advocating for improvements in education, working to reform\nMedicare, and helping to improve the lives of farmers in Nebraska. But\nI understand and respect his desire to fulfill spiritual needs that are\noften ignored in politics and to focus more on his personal and family\nlife. As a proud father and grandfather, I know what it's like to long\nto spend time with family. We can all respect and appreciate his\ndecision, though we will miss his candor, his wit, and his strong\nadvocacy for families and children in the Senate.\n  Bob Kerrey has served his country well as a member of the elite Navy\nSEALs in Vietnam, as Governor of Nebraska, and as a United States\nSenator for two terms. Though I once heard him refer to it modestly as\n``whatever,'' the Congressional Medal of Honor he earned for service in\nVietnam is a testament to his strength in the face of adversity and an\nintense love for this country, qualities he has brought with him to the\nSenate.\n  In this body, he has accomplished a great deal in a short time. As\nthe vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Bob\ncontinued to protect and defend our national security interests,\nfighting for strong encryption measures. As a co-chairman of the IRS\nRestructuring Committee, Bob spearheaded reform legislation designed to\nimprove the relationship between taxpayers and the IRS. On the\nAgriculture Committee, Bob and I fought hard together to protect family\nfarmers in our Nation. Though regional differences sometimes divided\nus, I respected Bob's strong advocacy for farmers in Nebraska.\n  Bob's next move is north, where he will plan to become president of\nNew School University in New York. The New School has a reputation for\nintellectual freedom, innovation and the belief that education can be\nused as a tool to produce positive changes in society. I could not\nthink of a better leader for the New School. The Senate's loss is their\ngain.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2000-12-15-pt1-PgS11823"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 18.37746798992157, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}