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TRIBUTES TO HON. JAMES M. JEFFORDS 

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James M. Jeffords 

U.S. SENATOR FROM VERMONT 

TRIBUTES 

IN THE CONGRESS OF 

THE UNITED STATES 

UNUM

E PLURIBUS


congress.#15
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James M. Jeffords 


33207.002
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U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 2007

S. DOC. 109–32 

Tributes 

Delivered in Congress 

James M. Jeffords 

United States Congressman 

1975–1989 

United States Senator 

1989–2007 

÷ 

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Compiled under the direction 

of the 

Joint Committee on Printing 

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CONTENTS 

Page 

Biography .................................................................................................. v 

Farewell to the Senate ............................................................................. vii 

Proceedings in the Senate: 

Tributes by Senators: 

Akaka, Daniel K., of Hawaii ..................................................... 51 

Alexander, Lamar, of Tennessee ............................................... 33 

Allen, George, of Virginia .......................................................... 34 

Boxer, Barbara, of California .................................................... 18 

Byrd, Robert C., of West Virginia ............................................. 27 

Clinton, Hillary Rodham, of New York .................................... 41 

Conrad, Kent, of North Dakota ................................................. 40 

DeWine, Mike, of Ohio ............................................................... 44 

Dodd, Christopher J., of Connecticut ....................................... 9, 44 

Durbin, Richard, of Illinois ........................................................ 12, 35 

Enzi, Michael B., of Wyoming ................................................... 3, 29 

Feingold, Russell D., of Wisconsin ............................................ 37 

Frist, William H., of Tennessee ................................................ 50 

Grassley, Chuck, of Iowa ........................................................... 6 

Hagel, Chuck, of Nebraska ........................................................ 32 

Harkin, Tom, of Iowa ................................................................. 15 

Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah ........................................................... 45 

Hutchison, Kay Bailey, of Texas ............................................... 50 

Jeffords, James M., of Vermont ................................................ 26 

Kennedy, Edward M., of Massachusetts .................................. 8 

Kyl, Jon, of Arizona ................................................................... 43 

Landrieu, Mary L., of Louisiana ............................................... 42 

Leahy, Patrick J., of Vermont ................................................... 4 

Levin, Carl, of Michigan ............................................................ 47 

Nelson, Bill, of Florida ............................................................... 34 

Obama, Barack, of Illinois ......................................................... 25 

Reed, Jack, of Rhode Island ...................................................... 33 

Reid, Harry, of Nevada .............................................................. 3, 44 

Rockefeller, John D., IV ............................................................. 20 

Salazar, Ken, of Colorado .......................................................... 37 

Snowe, Olympia J., of Maine .................................................... 48 

Stevens, Ted, of Alaska ............................................................. 50 

Warner, John, of Virginia .......................................................... 39 

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Biography 

Born in Rutland, VT, on May 11, 1934, JAMES MERRILL

JEFFORDS is the son of the late Marion H. Jeffords and the 

late Olin M. Jeffords, former chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. His father’s family settled in northwestern 

Vermont in 1794. After attending public schools in Rutland, 

Senator JEFFORDS received his undergraduate degree from 

Yale University in 1956 and his law degree from Harvard 

Law School in 1962. He served in active duty with the U.S. 

Navy from 1956 to 1959, and retired from the U.S. Naval Reserve as a Captain in 1990. He was married to the late Elizabeth Daley and has two children, Leonard and Laura. The 

JEFFORDS’ residence is in Shrewsbury, VT. 

Senator JEFFORDS spent 32 years in Congress. He was first 

elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974, and 

served three terms as a U.S. Senator. Before arriving in 

Washington, he served as a Vermont State Senator from 

Rutland in 1967 and 1968, and held his first statewide office 

as Vermont Attorney General from 1969 to 1973. 

Throughout his tenure in Congress, Senator JEFFORDS

championed legislation to strengthen our Nation’s education 

system and increase the opportunities for individuals with 

disabilities. He left his fingerprints on every piece of education, job training, and disability legislation over the past 

quarter-century. In 1975, Senator JEFFORDS, as the ranking 

member on the Subcommittee on Select Education, co-authored what would later be known as the Individuals with 

Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which has provided equal 

access to education for millions of students with disabilities. 

Since IDEA’s enactment, Senator JEFFORDS continued to 

fight for full Federal funding for the law. 

Senator JEFFORDS has also been a leading advocate in 

Congress for environmental protection. He fought to reduce 

industrial pollution and acid rain, and as a member of the 

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee he ensured the passage of the 1990 Clean Air Act. More recently, 

Senator JEFFORDS introduced legislation that would clean up 

dirty power plants and create incentives for investments in 

clean, renewable power. 

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Through his leadership on the Senate Environment and 

Public Works Committee, Senator JEFFORDS also worked to 

improve Vermont’s ground transportation system. Last summer, Congress passed a 5-year, $286.5 billion highway bill, 

which Senator JEFFORDS co-authored. This legislation will 

increase Vermont’s share of total highway dollars by 40 percent. In all, Vermont will receive more than $1 billion over 

the 5-year period, with specific projects included. In addition 

to creating thousands of jobs throughout Vermont, the highway bill will dramatically improve the State’s roads, bridges, 

and rail lines. 

Senator JEFFORDS, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1988, chaired the Senate Environment and Public 

Works Committee from 2001 to 2002 and later served as the 

Committee’s ranking member. He also served as a member 

of the Senate Finance Committee, Senate Veterans’ Affairs 

Committee, Special Committee on Aging, and the Senate 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which 

he chaired from 1997 to 2001. 

He was one of six founders of the Congressional Solar Coalition, and he served as chairman of the House Environmental Study Conference from 1978 to 1979. 

In 1980, then-Congressman JEFFORDS co-founded the Congressional Arts Caucus. Throughout his career he consistently fought for financial support of the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services. In 

addition to his legislative work in the arts, Senator JEFFORDS has sponsored the Congressional High School Art 

Competition in Vermont for 25 years. 

In recognition of his achievements, Senator JEFFORDS has 

received many prestigious awards, including being named 

Legislator of the Year by Parenting magazine in 1999, and 

in 2002 he received the Sierra Club’s top honor. 

In 2001, Senator JEFFORDS left the Republican Party and 

became an Independent. He has been profiled on ‘‘60 Minutes’’ and ‘‘Dateline NBC,’’ and in the New York Times and 

the Washington Post. He is the author of ‘‘My Declaration of 

Independence’’ (Simon and Schuster, 2001) and ‘‘An Independent Man: Adventures of a Public Servant’’ (Simon and 

Schuster, 2003). 

Senator JEFFORDS is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. 

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Farewell to the Senate 

Wednesday, September 27, 2006 

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, even a diehard Red Sox 

fan has to give the devil his due. Probably the most moving 

moment in the history of baseball was when longtime New 

York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig walked on the field 

to accept the tribute of his fans and teammates. On Independence Day in 1939, he told the crowd at Yankee Stadium 

that he considered himself the luckiest man on the face of 

the Earth. 

I consider myself pretty lucky, too. I was elected to the 

House of Representatives in 1974. That was not the best 

year to be a Republican candidate. Out of an enormous 

freshman class of 92 new Members, which included Chris 

Dodd and Tom Harkin, only 17 of us were Republicans. And 

as Chuck Grassley and I walked down the aisle of the House, 

he with crutches and I with a neck brace, one Democrat muttered: There’s two we almost got. 

Time has gotten just about all of us. With my retirement 

and that of Henry Hyde in the House, Chuck Grassley next 

year will become the last remaining Member of the Republican class of 1974, an iron horse in his own right. The silver 

lining for me in the electoral losses suffered by the Republicans was a chance to land senior positions on the Agriculture and Education Subcommittees that would quickly 

throw me into the thick of things. Throughout my career in 

the House, I focused on those two issues. 

In 1988, with the retirement of Bob Stafford, I ran for and 

won a seat in the Senate. Senator Stafford was a tough act 

to follow. He had held just about every office in the State of 

Vermont and had an enormous impact on the Federal policy 

for education, the environment, and elsewhere. I was lucky 

when I got to the Senate that there were openings on both 

the Education and Environment Committees. 

Early on, I learned what the Senate can be at its best. In 

1989, Congress was in the midst of reauthorizing the Clean 

Air Act. Even though I was a freshman, the door was open 

for anyone who had the time and interest. As John Chafee, 

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George Mitchell, and the rest of us forged a strong renewal 

of the Clean Air Act, I realized these were the moments I enjoyed most. I realized these were the moments I enjoyed 

most when smart and committed people worked together to 

solve tough problems and improve the lot for Americans. 

Every year since has provided similar moments, from rebuilding our roads to rewriting our food and drug laws. 

Probably the biggest and the most rewarding challenge for 

me has been in the area of education. From my first year in 

the House when we enacted the Education of the Handicapped Act, to work that continues today on the Higher Education Act, I have tried to do my best to ensure that every 

child is given the opportunity to reach his or her potential. 

There is plenty of work left to be done to reach this goal, 

and nowhere is that more true than in the District of Columbia. A decade ago, Congress stepped in to try and help the 

District resolve the problems plaguing its overall budget and 

its schools in particular. As chair of the DC Appropriations 

Subcommittee, I helped lead that effort. The city is to be 

commended for its record of fiscal responsibility in the years 

since, and I hope the superintendent, the new mayor, the 

council, and the school board will be able to make similar 

progress in improving the city’s school system. 

While Vermont has always been home, I have lived in the 

District of Columbia since coming to Washington. Luckily, I 

have never lost the ability to be moved by the sight of the 

Capitol dome. Its majesty struck me when I first came to 

Washington and it still does today. Under that dome and in 

the buildings around it work thousands of good people. We 

are all privileged to work with a whole host of people who 

get too little recognition, from the person recording my 

words, to the people who put them in the Congressional 

Record while we sleep—not always easy tasks, in my case. 

Ours, too, is not always an easy task. I know it is hard for 

the public to understand the reality of life in the Congress, 

but the continual travel, the campaigns, and the unpredictable hours of our jobs can take a toll on our families. I have 

been blessed with two wonderful children, Laura and Leonard, who are here with me today, and a feisty, funny, and 

an incredibly strong wife, Liz. They have had to put up with 

an awful lot over the years so that I could serve Vermont. 

Three decades is a blink of an eye in history, but what a 

tremendous period of change in our country we have been 

through. When I came to Washington, we were only three 

decades removed from the Second World War. My childhood 

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heroes were heroes of that war, and it seemed as though 

every family had a father or son or uncle who served and 

sacrificed in that war. But when I came to Washington, an 

entirely different war was being waged in Southeast Asia. 

Vietnam has colored much of our thinking since. Whether 

Vietnam had too much or too little influence upon the ensuing three decades is a much larger debate, but we would be 

better served in world affairs today by being less haughty 

and more humble. 

I regret that my departure from Congress, like my arrival, 

finds our country at war. Young and even not so young 

Americans are sacrificing life and limb while the rest of us 

are making little or no sacrifice. It seems to me the very 

least we should do is pay today for the fiscal costs of our 

policies. Instead, we are floating IOUs written on our children’s future. This year we have no budget, and we are unwilling even to debate most of our basic spending bills before 

the November election. Thirty years from now, we could well 

face the biggest crisis in government since the Civil War, if 

Congress and the White House do not adopt a more honest 

approach to government. 

The basic compact between generations is being broken. 

F.D.R. was right to borrow heavily to finance World War II, 

but are we justified in doing so today? 

Earlier this month I was privileged to attend the dedication of a monument in Virginia commemorating the sacrifice 

of more than 1,200 men of the Vermont Brigade during the 

Battle of the Wilderness. The tangled thickets of the 19th 

century have given way to mature forests. The individuals 

are largely forgotten, but our collective memory must endure. Today, we use blocks of granite to remind us of the 

sacrifices of the Civil War. In its immediate aftermath you 

would think no such reminder would have been needed. But 

140 years ago, so the story goes, a northern Congressman literally waved a bloody shirt before his colleagues to inflame 

them against the South for alleged misdeeds. True patriotism is the incredible bravery of those men whose too-brief 

lives ended on that Wilderness Battlefield. Waving the 

bloody shirt then or today is anything but patriotic. 

The beautiful Capitol dome above us, completed even as 

the Civil War concluded, should serve to inspire us. I am an 

optimist and have been every day of my life. With Lincoln, 

I hope that the mystic cords of memory will stretch from 

every battlefield and patriot grave to the hearts of the living, 

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and that we will soon again be touched by the better angels 

of our nature. 

Mr. President, I wish you and all of my colleagues good 

luck and Godspeed. 

Mr. President, I yield the floor. 

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TRIBUTES 

TO 

JAMES M. JEFFORDS 

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Proceedings in the Senate 

TUESDAY, September 26, 2006 

Mr. ENZI. . . . I would like to recognize two departing 

members of the [HELP] committee [Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions]: Majority Leader Frist and Senator 

JEFFORDS. We are fortunate they chose to serve, and we are 

grateful for their contributions. Senator JEFFORDS is a past 

chairman of the committee, and, of course, Majority Leader 

Frist has been the doctor on the committee and provided a 

perspective no one else could. I am proud of the work we 

have done here on the committee these past 2 years. By 

working together, we have established a track record of success. . . . 

WEDNESDAY, September 27, 2006 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, Senator JEFFORDS has been a 

friend and colleague for many years. We had the opportunity 

to serve together in the House of Representatives. We served 

together in the Senate. To say that he has made history during his time in Congress is an understatement. But more important, he has made a difference. I have always been impressed by his knowledge of the issues and his dedication to 

the public well-being and the environment. I have had the 

good fortune of serving with him on the Environment and 

Public Works Committee. He is a stalwart. He is a true believer that the environment is in distress and things need to 

be done to change our environment. 

He has worked to preserve the middle class and to provide 

for the safety of the American people in so many different 

ways. Senator JEFFORDS is a man of conscience. No one can 

question that. He grew up in Vermont where the Jeffords 

family first settled in the 18th century. His father was a 

longtime member of the Supreme Court. After JIM JEFFORDS

graduated from Yale, he served in the Navy on active duty 

for 4 years. He served then in the Naval Reserve, retiring as 

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a captain. Senator JEFFORDS studied law at Harvard—Yale 

and Harvard—which shows his intellect. He returned after 

having finished law school to Vermont to practice law. Shortly thereafter, he was elected to the Vermont State Senate 

and then attorney general. He was elected to the House of 

Representatives in 1975 and served there until he came to 

the Senate in 1989. 

In walking in here I grabbed a book that has a lot of definitions. I flipped to courage. Whatever definition you have of 

courage, you can pick one here going back to two centuries 

ago: 

I love the man who can smile on trouble, who can gather strength from 

distress and grow brave by reflection. It is the business of little minds to 

shrink, but he whose heart is firm and whose conscience has approved his 

conduct will pursue his principles unto death. 

That really is JIM JEFFORDS, and that, Mr. President, is a 

quote from Thomas Payne. I have seen up close JIM JEFFORDS’s courage. Everyone knows, as it has been written 

about in books, the conversations that Senator JEFFORDS and 

I had prior to Senator JEFFORDS deciding that he wanted to 

change course and become an Independent. That was not an 

easy decision. It involved years of friendship, and it involved 

years of his being a member of two different legislative bodies on Capitol Hill. 

Most of our discussions took place on the Senate floor as 

people were walking around, but we had conversations in 

private. I know firsthand, I repeat, of the courage of this 

man. I, in my now long public career have been involved in 

a number of things that I will always remember, but I will 

never, ever remember anything more vividly than the Senator from Vermont, as a matter of principle and courage, 

changing not only his course but the course of this country. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont is 

recognized. 

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I have listened to my friend, 

JIM JEFFORDS, the Senator from Vermont speak here this 

morning [see Farewell to the Senate, page vii]. I couldn’t 

help but think as I heard Senator JEFFORDS speak with wit 

and clarity, and you might say even some emotion, that JIM

JEFFORDS, given the opportunity to make a speech—and 

many of us will do so on this Senate floor as we leave—did 

it being true to himself, with his own good nature, his own 

sense of history, and his own justifiable pride in what he has 

accomplished. 

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I have known JIM JEFFORDS from his days as a State senator in Rutland. I have known his wonderful wife, Liz Daley 

Jeffords. They are both dear friends of mine and my wife 

Marcel. Mrs. Jeffords was referred to as a great lady the 

other night by the anchor of our State’s largest TV station. 

Some of us who have known JIM for years would say she gets 

that greatness for putting up with him for all these years. 

But we Vermonters found no difficulties in putting up with 

JIM JEFFORDS. He has been elected overwhelmingly to the offices he has held and he has done it with support from Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike. He has gotten 

these votes the old-fashioned way—he earned them. 

We came here together 32 years ago. I like to talk about 

the Leahys coming to Vermont in the 1850s. JIM reminds me 

his family came to Vermont a century before. We both live 

in small towns in Vermont; we have had that sense of 

Vermont. He has never lost it. He has been a good friend. 

His career highlights are legendary. Let me tell you why 

he is supported so. First and foremost, Senator JEFFORDS is 

known as an environmental champion. In Vermont, they say, 

If you scratch a Vermonter you scratch an environmentalist, 

no matter the party. 

He has done it in the great tradition of Senator Bob Stafford. Senator Bob Stafford is also from the same county as 

JIM JEFFORDS—actually JIM grew up near him. He mentioned Bob today. 

He carved out a legend on education and the environment 

when he was here. But then JIM JEFFORDS had done that as 

attorney general and as a State senator in our State. For the 

past three decades he has left his fingerprints on nearly 

every environmental law enacted, from the Clean Air Act 

and the Clean Water Act to the Superfund Program to acid 

rain reduction. 

In fact, when others in his position would be thinking 

about where are the papers going and how will we retire, 

just a matter of months ago he offered the boldest solution 

to combat global climate change this body has ever considered. 

He has championed legislation to strengthen our Nation’s 

education system and increase the opportunities for individuals with disabilities. 

In 1975, as a brand new Member of the House of Representatives, as he said, coming in with a neck brace—the 

walking wounded from an election where both of us ran in 

Vermont—he coauthored what would later be known as the 

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Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA. It was 

strongly supported by his colleagues here in the Senate and 

before that in the House. It has provided equal access to education for millions of students with disabilities, students who 

otherwise would have been shunted aside and this country 

would not have had the value of their achievements. 

As chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pension 

Committee, he worked tirelessly on education, job training, 

and disability legislation. Most recently, his leadership in the 

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee was essential to the passage of the highway bill. Of course, 

Vermont and the rest of the country will benefit from that. 

I might say there has been no greater leader for Vermont’s 

dairy industry than Senator JEFFORDS. In his work on the 

Northeast Dairy Compact and the milk programs, he has 

fought tough battles for Vermont dairies—and won. He actually knows as much about our dairy industry as most dairy 

farmers. 

It is what he has done for future generations. All of us can 

talk about what we do here. It is what we leave for our children and our grandchildren that counts. Future generations 

of Vermonters will honor JIM’s legacy when they see the 

work that he began as attorney general and continued 

throughout the Senate—helping to restore Lake Champlain 

to its brilliance, its magnificence; or witness the bald eagles 

abounding in the wilderness areas, thanks to JIM. 

I applaud him for this statement as he takes leave of the 

Senate—although it seems this year we will never know 

when we leave. None of us are getting our final airplane reservations yet. But he has done it with his usual grace and 

good humor. I applaud him for that and I hope all of us 

when we come to leave, whenever that may be, will have the 

opportunity to show that same grace. He served Vermont 

well and, just as important, he served the Senate well. 

After a long career I might violate the rules somewhat, addressing my friend and colleague directly: For a long career, 

JIM, you can leave with your head held high. You have 

served Vermont and your Nation proudly. 

I yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa is recognized. 

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I rise to tell the Senator 

from Vermont that I am going to miss him in the Senate and 

still consider him a friend. I hope to have a long relationship 

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with him, even in his retirement. I am that Senator that JIM

JEFFORDS, the Senator from Vermont, referred to as the one 

remaining Republican of the class of 1974. There were 17 of 

us. I think there were about 70 Democrats. It was a bad year 

for Republicans. You couldn’t even put the word Republican 

on your literature. It was the year Nixon resigned. 

There were only 140 of us in the House of Representatives 

at that time. I don’t know whether Senator JEFFORDS felt 

this way, but I felt this way, that it was probably the end 

of the Republican Party. Well, I was wrong. He and I have 

been reelected to serve together, to serve our respective constituents. 

I remember Senator JEFFORDS as an outstanding member 

of the Agriculture Committee in the House of Representatives the 6 years I served on that committee. Then there was 

a period of time where I was a Member of the Senate and 

he still stayed in the House of Representatives. Our friendship still held. But working together—you know how it is in 

Congress, the House and Senate; there is a Grand Canyon 

between us sometimes, and we don’t communicate as much 

as we ought to. Consequently, it was like getting reacquainted with Senator JEFFORDS again when he came to 

the Senate. I was glad then and I am very glad now that he 

continued his service. 

I think he is an outstanding example of probably what is 

an unacknowledged principle of political science—at least it 

is a feeling I have about the people of our country—that if 

you serve honorably where you are at a certain time and do 

the best job possible, you are going to have opportunities to 

enhance your position within public service. So as a State 

senator, then as an attorney general, then as a Congressman, and then as a Senator for the people of Vermont, I believe he got to be a Senator because people in Vermont recognized him, as a State senator, as a Congressman, and as an 

attorney general, as a person who was not there because of 

political ambition, wanting to rise to the top, but a person, 

in each stage of his public service life, who did what that job 

required and did it well. People recognized that and in the 

end of the process, he came to the Senate. 

In every relationship I have had with Senator JEFFORDS, 

whether he was a Republican or an Independent, it has always been one that has been friendly and honorable and 

honest. And most important, he was a humanitarian in his 

approach to public policy. 

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It seemed to me that as a Member of the Senate, whether 

as an Independent or as a Republican, Senator JEFFORDS

brought forth what it takes to get things done in the Senate, 

and that is moderation. It doesn’t matter whether it is a bill 

that is representing the philosophy of the extreme left or a 

bill that represents the philosophy of the extreme right, 

nothing such as that is going to get through the Senate. 

Eventually you have to have people come together seeking a 

middle ground, a bipartisan approach to get things done. It 

seems to me, in every respect, that is what Senator JEFFORDS did—he sought moderation because that is how you 

get solutions and that is the only way the Senate produces. 

I compliment him on his dedicated public service. I congratulate him on his long service to the people of the United 

States and the people of Vermont. I will miss working with 

him. I will miss him, but I hope we have opportunities to 

have great relationships for the rest of our lives. 

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it is entirely appropriate 

that we take these few moments on the floor of the Senate 

to listen carefully and take the measure of an extraordinary 

Senator, Senator JIM JEFFORDS. In these next several weeks, 

this Nation is going to be focused in many, many States on 

trying to select who is going to represent them in the Senate. 

And if the people of those States just took a few moments 

to listen to the eloquence of this Senator, they would know 

what the standard should be in selecting someone to represent them in this body. It is JIM JEFFORDS. He sets the 

standard. So we thank JIM JEFFORDS for his service—his 

service to the State of Vermont and his service to all of our 

States and to the country. We thank him for that service. 

We also thank the people of Vermont for their wisdom in 

selecting this extraordinary talent and giving him the kind 

of support that they gave over a long and distinguished career, especially in those times when he was willing to take 

positions and stand up on issues as a matter of conscience. 

They understood their native son. They respected him, and 

they supported him. So thank you to the voters of Vermont. 

Thank you to his family, Elizabeth that Senator JEFFORDS

mentioned, Laura, and Leonard—a family that gave him 

great support. I think those of us who have been fortunate 

enough to know that family and meet that family understand what a strong influence it has been in terms of his 

service. 

And thank you, Senator JEFFORDS, for that simple eloquence that we heard from you today on the floor of the SenVerDate jan 13 2004 14:33 Aug 31, 2007 Jkt 033207 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 C:\DOCS\BYEBYE\BYEBYE06\33207.TXT CRS1 PsN: SKAYNE
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ate, going back into the history of our country, providing inspiration as we listen to you talk about the history of the 

Nation, mentioning with great pride the role of Vermonters 

in the time of the Civil War—and his understanding of history, talking about people of the Greatest Generation, which 

were inspiring figures to him and many of us continuing to 

the present. 

He typically understated his own achievements and accomplishments. I think many of us on this floor are well familiar 

with them. I certainly am as someone who has had the good 

opportunity to serve with him on the Education Committee. 

I know the difference that he has made in the education of 

children in this country, particularly those with special 

needs, accomplishments which are memorable and historical. 

He mentioned just casually his interest in the education of 

the children here in the District of Columbia. A number of 

us who are here on the floor now remember JIM JEFFORDS

speaking in our caucus not many years ago about how we, 

as Members of the Senate who happen to either live here in 

the District or work here, even though we are working in 

this body, have a responsibility for the education of the children here. He was the inspiration of a program, a literacy 

program called ‘‘Everybody Wins!’’ And JIM JEFFORDS led a 

number of us to Brent School here near the Capitol to read 

with the second and third graders each week to ensure that 

those children were going to have an opportunity to learn to 

read. It was just a simple illustration, once again, that JIM

JEFFORDS does not just talk the talk, he walks the walk. And 

at so many different times he has been there doing just that. 

So, JIM, we admire your service. You have demonstrated 

here—and we do not understand perhaps well enough—that 

you can speak with a quiet and soft voice, but you speak 

with a great passion and a compelling argument, and with 

a simplicity and effectiveness that has enriched and enhanced the quality of life and opportunity, particularly for 

children but also for all Americans. It is a distinguished career, and it is one I know that you should be—and are—

proud of. All of us have had our own lives enriched and inspired because of our friendship with you and the type of 

Senator you have been. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut 

is recognized. 

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I add my voice to my colleagues 

who have spoken and those who will speak in thanking our 

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wonderful friend from Vermont for his remarkable service to 

our country. 

I begin as well by thanking his family, Elizabeth and the 

children, as well as the people of Vermont, as Senator Kennedy has said so eloquently. 

Let me also include in enumeration his wonderful staff 

people, over the years, who have been very much a part of 

JIM’s family. In fact, I note from the interns to senior staff 

people, everyone refers to him not as ‘‘Senator’’ or ‘‘Mr. 

Chairman’’—but just ‘‘JIM.’’ That is certainly a symbol of the 

kind of relationship he has had with his constituents and 

with his congressional family over the years. 

I have had the privilege of serving my entire time in the 

Senate—in the Congress—with this remarkable person from 

Vermont. We arrived in the House of Representatives on the 

very same day, 32 years ago. As JIM pointed out, he had that 

neck brace on, and I had a head of black hair. We have aged 

over those three decades. But my respect for JIM JEFFORDS

has only grown. 

He has taught us America will listen to you even if your 

voice is soft. His achievements in the Senate and the House 

are the envy of all who wish to improve a quality of life in 

this great country of ours. JIM’s body of work is truly admirable. 

But it looks even more admirable when you remind yourself that it was all the doing of a man unpretentious enough 

to be fond of mismatched socks, frugal enough to spend his 

earliest days in Washington sleeping in a parked van, and 

humble enough to be universally known, as I’ve said, as just 

‘‘JIM.’’ The people of Vermont returned him to office over and 

over again on the strength of his plainspoken integrity and 

his indefatigable Yankeeness. That’s what JIM brought to 

this body of discussion; and that was more than enough. 

JIM came to Washington knowing what he wanted to accomplish, and his success is clear to us today. No one has 

worked with more dedication for a clean environment. JIM

was an environmentalist practically before we had a word for 

it. In fact, he got his start in the Vermont State Senate in 

the 1960s, fighting the efforts of the papermills to pour 

sludge right into Lake Champlain. He was a long-time nuclear watchdog and among six Congressmen to found the 

Congressional Solar Coalition years ago. It is telling that 

when he had his pick of chairmanships, Senator JIM JEFFORDS chose the Environment and Public Works Committee. 

Perhaps most important, he helped clean up the air we 

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[ 11 ] 

breathe. He mentioned it briefly. But the work of John 

Chafee, George Mitchell, and JIM JEFFORDS truly created the 

great Clean Air Act of 1990, a huge accomplishment. I want 

to thank JIM immensely for the tremendous effort he made 

years ago in improving the quality of air in this country. If 

he had done nothing else in 32 years, that alone would have 

been a significant achievement. Of course, his body of work 

is far more than that. 

Like JIM’s dedication to the environment, his work for children who have special education needs is decades long. In 

1976, he was essential to the passage of legislation guaranteeing local school districts that the Federal Government 

would pay 40 percent of the costs of educating the disabled. 

And if that guarantee remains unfunded today, never let it 

be said that it was for lack of JIM’s passionate work. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention of Tom Harkin, another fellow classmate of 1974, working with JIM and many 

others who cared about this issue over the years. No one contributed more to the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

Act than JIM JEFFORDS. Few Senators are as tied to special 

education, and that is a title to be very proud of. It has been 

my honor to work along with him in the House and the Senate on the issues that meant the most to him—on after 

school programs, on higher education, and, most especially, 

to secure funding for IDEA. 

In Vermont, commitment to education is a long-standing 

tradition. Right in the middle of the Civil War, we built the 

dome on the Capitol to show our determination to keep this 

Union together; but we showed it in another way, too. A Senator from Vermont by the name of Justin Smith Morrill created the land grant colleges—the University of Connecticut 

is one; there are many all across the country—and his work 

was one more demonstration of the remarkable people who 

come from that State of Vermont to help build this country, 

defend this country, and secure this country for our children. 

Senators Stafford and Morrill passed on that proud tradition, 

and Senator JEFFORDS stands in its forefront today. 

JIM has taught at every opportunity the difference between 

education as a privilege and education as a right. It is a 

right, and its worth is measured in our willingness to educate even—especially—where it is inconvenient. 

There weren’t many Senators shier than JIM JEFFORDS, 

but there wasn’t a single one fuller of quiet purpose and 

courage. Politics was always a means to JIM’s purpose—

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tics, the way he spent his power, was never calculated to 

bring him money, or fame, or even particularly glamour. It 

was only the quiet satisfaction of a job very well done. 

That is what I think of when I recall the more than three 

decades of our service together. But, to tell the truth, 

through all those 30 years I had a privileged seat right here 

with him. Those without that vantage point are probably 

going to remember, first of all, something very different. We 

all know how JIM crossed this aisle for good 5 years ago, and 

how he has served as an Independent ever since. JIM entered 

the national spotlight full of honest regret, and fully aware 

of how difficult his choice was for colleagues, his staff, and 

his supporters. 

I saw JIM up close as he struggled with a decision as few 

men or women ever have to. But whatever one thinks of it, 

there is a fact beyond dispute, which all of us appreciate in 

this body: JIM JEFFORDS has never followed anyone but his 

conscience. 

If we insist, 5 years later, on reasoning out the need in 

votes or dollars or any other measure of practicality, we only 

reveal our failure to understand what that man did on the 

day he made his choice. Sometimes what goes on in this 

Chamber cannot be reasoned away. JIM taught us that, too. 

So, I would like to close with a happy thought. Two years 

before the American Revolution, Edmund Burke gave a 

speech on the relationship between a Representative and 

those whom he tries to represent. 

It is his duty, 

said Burke, 

to sacrifice his repose, his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs; and above 

all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interests to his own. But his unbiased opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not 

to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living. These he does 

not derive from your pleasure; no, nor from the law and the constitution. 

They are a trust from Providence. 

Jim, you have kept your trust over these many years, in 

both the Senate and public life, in your State and in the 

Congress. We send you back to Vermont with your work in 

the Senate accomplished, with your conscience still clean, 

and with our best wishes to you and your lovely family. God 

bless you. 

I yield the floor. 

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it took an act of courage for 

JIM JEFFORDS to declare himself an Independent. It took an 

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[ 13 ] 

act of courage for a lifelong Red Sox fan to quote a New York 

Yankee in his farewell address to the Senate. 

JIM JEFFORDS is an extraordinary public servant. Fewer 

than 2,000 men and women in the history of the United 

States of America have served in the Senate. We all understand the great privilege of being in this body representing 

our great States. But people are not noted in the history of 

the Senate for longevity alone. People are noted for singular 

acts of courage. And when it comes to JIM JEFFORDS, his 

public career has been a singular act of courage. 

I hail from the State of Abraham Lincoln, where he lived 

most of his adult life, and where we claimed him as part of 

our national heritage. When I think of JIM JEFFORDS and the 

political party he identifies with more than any other name, 

I will say he identifies with the party of that great leader 

Abraham Lincoln who stood up for principles often against 

public and popular will. 

This last week, Time magazine noted they were going to 

designate Senator JIM JEFFORDS of Vermont as ‘‘Person of 

the Week.’’ They said in his one principled decision to become an Independent, ‘‘He demonstrated to the White House 

and the United States Senate that revolutionaries often 

come in surprising packages.’’

We all know what happened after JIM made his decision 

to become an Independent. He told me about walking home 

to his apartment at night down Pennsylvania Avenue. And 

people who were outside restaurants and cafes would stop 

and stand and start to applaud, and JIM would be startled 

by it at first. But he received more recognition than he, I am 

sure, expected. A lot of it came in positive terms; some in 

negative terms. People wanted to name their babies after 

him. 

In Burlington, VT—I think this is probably the greatest 

tribute a politician could ever expect—they named a beer 

after him—‘‘Jeezum Jim’’ they called it. I hope it was a popular brew because he has been a popular Senator. 

When they asked him why he changed his affiliation to become an Independent, he replied very simply: ‘‘It is all about 

education.’’ I remember it well, because I know that was the 

deciding factor. 

Your commitment to particularly those students who 

struggled with disabilities, students who have these difficulties, your commitment to those kids led you to this decision. 

Many of us make these decisions on votes on the floor. But 

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yond a vote or a speech. Several years ago, he established 

this tutoring program in Washington, DC, encouraging us, as 

Members of Congress, the House and the Senate, to walk 

just a few blocks from here, as he did so many times, to tutor 

the inner-city youth of Washington, DC. 

He is a true Vermonter and a true Independent. When we 

look at his record, he was the only House Republican who 

voted against the Reagan tax cut because he was afraid it 

would lead to dangerous deficits. How right he was. In 1993, 

he was the only Republican Senator to cosponsor President 

Clinton’s health care plan. He worked for years for regulation of tobacco by the Food and Drug Administration, a goal 

which I share with the Senator. And he sponsored the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, banning employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. 

Some politicians in their career find ways to divide us. JIM

JEFFORDS always looked for ways to bring us together. A 

strong supporter of Federal funding for AIDS research and 

the arts, justifiably proud of the role he played in passing 

the Work Incentives Improvement Act, and, of course, his 

record on the environment is without parallel. 

I know historians will also record all these accomplishments and courageous battles when they write about JIM

JEFFORDS. On July 4, 2001, several weeks after he made his 

decision to become an Independent, he sat down at his home 

in Vermont and wrote these words: 

I hope my decision will move the two parties to the center, where the 

American people are. The American people want an active, responsible, Federal Government. 

He went on to say: 

There seems to be a hunger in this country for heroes, especially for the 

political variety. 

Not only with this one historic act of conscience but 

throughout his career in the House and the Senate, in public 

life JIM JEFFORDS has been a living example of these hopes 

and beliefs. I am proud to have been able to serve with him. 

I am proud to count him as one of my colleagues, even 

prouder to count him as a friend. 

I thank his family for giving him this opportunity to serve 

and giving this wonderful man to public life. 

I thank you, JIM JEFFORDS, for all you have meant. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa is recognized. 

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Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, it is, indeed, a privilege to be 

here this morning to personally hear the words of our good 

friend, Senator JEFFORDS, and to hear other Senators get up 

and talk about JIM in such glowing terms. 

However, I must say that all the years I have known JIM

JEFFORDS, he is an old-fashioned New Englander, which 

means he is very modest. That means he is embarrassed to 

receive this kind of praise and adulation. Senator JEFFORDS

will just have to endure it because we love you, we respect 

you, we admire you, and you are one of the most beloved 

Members of the Senate. 

Thirty-two years ago, we came together in the House. You 

talked about that. Our colleague, Chris Dodd, was in that 

class, and also my colleague from Iowa, Senator Grassley. I 

didn’t know Senator JEFFORDS at that time, obviously. We 

had just come in as freshmen Members. I found myself on 

the Committee on Agriculture with Senator JEFFORDS. We 

both sat down at the end. He was on one side and I was on 

the other side because we were just freshmen. 

We had a farm bill coming up. After a few weeks on the 

Agriculture Committee, we dubbed Senator JEFFORDS ‘‘the 

Senator from Dairy.’’ He was tenacious in fighting for his 

dairy farmers of Vermont and, of course, New England. 

Those from Iowa and Minnesota and Wisconsin—we had 

dairy farmers, too, and there was, shall I say, a little bit of 

a conflict in how we viewed the world of milk and dairy. 

That was my first experience with Senator JEFFORDS because we had to work things out. And we did. That was the 

first time I got to see the kind of person JIM JEFFORDS is and 

always has been. He was tenacious in fighting for his dairy 

farmers but willing to understand that we all have to live together; somehow we have to seek our compromises. And we 

did. We reached a compromise and we moved the legislation 

forward. That was the first time I came to really know and 

respect JIM JEFFORDS. 

As we moved ahead in agriculture, I found another area in 

which I respected and admired Senator JEFFORDS. That was 

the area of environment and conservation. In those days, 

people were thinking mostly about all the commodity programs, how much money we could get in the commodity programs. We were all protecting our interests. I was protecting 

my Iowa interests and Senator JEFFORDS was protecting his 

Vermont interests. 

However, conservation transcended everything. That began 

back in the late 1970s, in the House Agriculture Committee. 

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We began the move toward more conservation in our farm 

bills, which led to more of a ‘‘greening’’ of America. He did 

that work also on Environment and Public Works. When I 

think about the environment, cleaning up the environment—

clean water, clean lakes, clean streams—I have to think of 

JIM JEFFORDS. He was there at the beginning. 

Then in 1975, on the Committee on Education, JIM JEFFORDS coauthored what later became the Individuals with 

Disabilities Education Act. I was not on the Committee on 

Education, but because of my family and because of my intense interest in disability rights, especially as it pertained 

to the hard-of-hearing and the deaf, I learned about this bill 

with JIM JEFFORDS and with Paul Simon—at that time, Senator Simon—and sort of stuck my nose in their business, if 

you don’t mind my saying that, because I was not on the 

committee. I talked about how we had to help do some of 

these things. My focus was narrow at that time, just in hardof-hearing and deafness at that time. My great respect for 

Senator JEFFORDS, or JIM, at that time grew because he was 

focused on how we make sure every kid in America gets an 

education, make sure kids with disabilities were mainstream, make sure they got the support in our schools. 

It was Senator JEFFORDS who made sure that in the bill 

we passed, the Federal Government committed itself to providing at least 40 percent of the additional costs to States 

and local communities in educating kids with disabilities. 

Forty percent was the goal we set in the bill Senator JEFFORDS coauthored in 1975. 

That moves me up to the year 2001. In the year 2001, the 

budget came from the White House, President Bush’s budget, which severely underfunded our commitment to increasing funding. We have never reached 40 percent. I think the 

highest we have been is 18 percent. We have never gotten 

the 40 percent. Senator JEFFORDS wanted to move that up. 

Yet the budget came down and had a severe cut in the funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. That 

is when Senator JEFFORDS said no, he wanted to make sure 

that money was in there. That happened, mostly, on the Republican side of the aisle. I was not privy to all of that. That 

is when Senator JEFFORDS made his declaration of independence. A matter of conscience—he could not turn his back on 

all these years of moving our society forward to educating 

kids with disabilities in our schools and then all of a sudden 

say: No, we are going to turn the clock back; we are not 

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et would not allow it; he fought hard for it. Based upon the 

fact that the administration would not move on that, he declared his independence and became an Independent and left 

his party. We can all imagine how wrenching that must be, 

to leave the party that nurtured us, that we grew up with, 

that supported us all our adult life. It is a matter of conscience. You can read about it in his book, ‘‘My Declaration 

of Independence.’’

After that, I invited Senator JEFFORDS to come out to 

speak at the steak fry I have in Iowa every year. It was after 

the book came out. I will never forget the scene. We had 

thousands of people. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon. Thousands of people came to meet this person, to hear 

him and to hear his message. They had all these little books 

they were waving, ‘‘My Declaration of Independence.’’

He had a wonderful message. His message was: don’t ever 

turn our back on making sure every child in America has a 

decent education. It was a simple, straightforward message. 

But you should read his book. 

Senator Kennedy mentioned another thing about Senator 

JEFFORDS that not too many people know about; that is, his 

support for a program called ‘‘Everybody Wins.’’ He brought 

it here to Washington in the late 1990s and then began 

badgering us to participate in it in his usual tenacious manner. So he got a lot of us hooked on it. 

It is every Tuesday. I see Senator Kennedy goes about 

every Tuesday; JIM, of course, goes all the time; I go every 

Tuesday we are here, as do a lot of staff members. We go to 

Brent Elementary School. We read to a child for 1 hour 

every Tuesday. It has been a wonderful experience for me 

and I know for everyone who participates in it. In fact, we 

now talk about JIM as being sort of the Johnny Appleseed of 

this movement because now it is starting in other States. We 

took the idea to Iowa, and now it is sprouting in Iowa. Other 

States and businesses are involved. ‘‘Everybody Wins’’ is now 

moving around the country. Senator Kennedy said: Senator 

JEFFORDS doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk. 

When he brought it here, he was there every week reading 

to kids and getting us to go down and read to them, also. 

I have in my office a big picture, my favorite picture. It is 

a big picture taken at Tiananmen Square, a picture we all 

will remember of the young man holding a little briefcase, a 

young student holding a briefcase. There is a line of tanks. 

He is standing in front of the tanks, and the tanks have all 

stopped. To those of us who have seen the video of this, the 

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[ 18 ] 

tanks were coming down the street, the student went out in 

the street, he stopped, the tanks turned to go one direction 

and he moved over a few steps, then the tanks moved another direction to get around, and he moved over and stood 

there. Finally, the tanks stopped right in front of him. A 

hatch popped open, and a military guy got out and looked at 

him and stood there for a few minutes. The tanks all 

stopped, and then the young man turned and walked off the 

street. 

A lot of people I talk to about that picture—did they ever 

know who he was? No, they never did find out his name. But 

I gave them the name. I call him JIM JEFFORDS. To me, that 

young man who did that represents the JIM JEFFORDS of the 

world, willing to stand on principle no matter what the odds 

are. No matter what is coming at them, they are willing to 

stand on principle. 

So after 32 years, we will miss this soft-spoken and selfeffacing New Englander who has a spine of steel. After 32 

years, Senator JEFFORDS, you have left your mark: education, job training, disability rights, the environment and, 

lest we forget, the dairy farmers of New England, who will 

never forget JIM JEFFORDS. 

Jim, we are going to miss you, your kindness, your leadership, your courage, your generosity of spirit, and your example. Know that our love, our admiration, our respect, and our 

best wishes go with you and with Elizabeth and your family. 

Know that you have left our Nation and the world a mark 

for all of us to follow in how to make our Nation and our 

world a better place. 

Senator JEFFORDS, JIM, Godspeed. Come back now and 

then. Come back on the floor. Retired Senators have the 

privilege of coming to the floor. Come back on the floor and 

remind us why we are here. 

I yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California 

is recognized. 

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, this is a very poignant morning for so many. I am so glad I have been able to arrange 

my schedule to be here to listen to my colleagues and 

friends, whom I deeply respect, and to listen to the great 

Senator from Vermont, JIM JEFFORDS. 

If I might say how blessed I have been, I got here in 1993 

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mittee. I met JIM there, and now I get to sit next to him in 

the Senate. I got to know his staff. 

We are going to miss you. But, JIM, I must say, you made 

a beautiful speech today. And in listening to Tom Harkin 

talk about you and explain that you have always been motivated by what is right for the people, if ever you could take 

an opportunity to tout your accomplishments, it is when you 

say goodbye. People would say that is fair. But you did not 

do that. You did not say: This year I passed this legislation 

and this bill. The rest of us have been lauding your accomplishments, but it is just like you, instead, to talk about this 

country you love so much. And you cite to us what our challenges are. And, of course, they continue to be the challenges 

you have taken up: education, the environment, fiscal responsibility, war and peace. You have left a roadmap for us, 

and for that we are very grateful. 

I mentioned that I was sworn in in 1993. That was the socalled year of the women, where we tripled the number of 

women in the Senate. That sounds great, but it was from 

two to six. We were still a very strong minority. Our leader, 

Barbara Mikulski, the dean of the women here, always 

taught us, from day one—she said: You are going to have to 

work with the men because they control things here, and you 

are going to find that among these many men there are 

many Sir Galahads. 

Jim, you are Sir Galahad. You have been a wonderful 

friend to us, treating us, from the minute we walked in, as 

equals and colleagues. We are very grateful to you for that. 

I am not going to talk a long time at all. But I want to 

talk about three things quickly. One is, I went to your State 

of Vermont this last weekend. I had been there before and 

always marveled at how beautiful it is, but I was taken with 

it again. 

Now, coming from California, we have our beautiful places, 

believe me. So I have come to appreciate beautiful places. We 

overlooked Lake Champlain when we were there. Knowing 

that you worked so hard to make that lake clean and beautiful, thank you for that. There is so much history there, JIM, 

that you have also helped to preserve—you and Patrick 

Leahy, and so many others who came before. 

But what struck me about Vermont as much as the beauty 

are the incredible people in your State, how involved they 

are. It is that old New England townhall type of quality. 

They get it. They are involved. They love you, JIM. They love 

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[ 20 ] 

you. When I mentioned your name, oh, my goodness, the 

roars came up. You could hear it blocks away. 

People love you here and they love you in Vermont. And 

your family loves you. As you said, you are blessed, as we 

are blessed in your presence. 

The second point is your family and how much they care 

about you. They are so proud of you. I know how hard it was 

for them when you declared your independence. It rocked 

their world, just as it rocked your world, and just as it 

rocked the country. But when you do something for the right 

reasons, it all works out. And you did something for the right 

reasons, for the people of this country. 

The last thing I want to say to you is, we do not know how 

things will work out this November, but either way, I will be 

taking a larger role on the committee you love, the Environment and Public Works Committee, where you have been an 

extraordinary leader. You have given us a roadmap on how 

to fight global warming—a huge challenge we face. We cannot turn away from it because if we do, we are neglecting 

our responsibility. You, thank goodness, have written a bill 

that will show us the way. 

So I am here today not only to wish you well in your retirement, and joy with your family, but to tell you that I am 

going to follow your leadership on global warming. I am excited about the challenge. And because of the love your colleagues feel for you, I hope you will come back here, as Tom 

Harkin said, to help me with that because we are going to 

have to move and get going on it. 

Mr. President, thank you very much. And thanks to our 

colleagues for giving us this time we need to pay tribute to 

an extraordinary Senator, one who will be missed but never 

forgotten. 

Thank you very much. I yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia is recognized. 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I have to start off 

anything I say—and I will be short—about JIM JEFFORDS

with the word ‘‘friendship,’’ based upon his unbelievable 

qualities of kindness, of goodness, of steadfastness, being the 

same person every day under any circumstance. 

We sit together. We have sat together for quite a long time 

on the floor of the Senate. And we talk a lot. I have the 

honor of talking with his staff, too, a superb staff, who 

adores him. 

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The business of friendship in the Senate is underpracticed. 

If you know JIM JEFFORDS, then you know why you should 

take more time to know your colleagues better. Because the 

fact is—although it has been more so recently—it is not your 

politics or your party that determines how you vote, but your 

conscience and your sense of a moral compass that guides 

you. In that practice, you have to think of JIM JEFFORDS. 

He is an extraordinarily wonderful human being. He has 

got a ferocious sense of humor, which is always delivered 

very quietly. And yet he is deep, he is profound, he sort of 

looks like Vermont: chiseled; his nose is just the right shape. 

And, of course, he talks that way. But he is humble, not because he wants to be, just because he is. Nothing about his 

record is humble. But his nature is humble. He is gentle; 

and he really is. He listens, does not interrupt, does not insist on his point of view—except when it counts, and then he 

is unmovable. 

All of the subjects he has concentrated on—children, the 

environment, many other things that have been mentioned—

there is also the matter of post-traumatic stress disorder. On 

the Veterans Committee, which is the one committee where 

I do get to—not the only committee, but I get to sit with him 

on that committee—he has been a champion of something 

which Americans still do not really understand; and that is, 

the ferocious nature of being wounded in war these days—

an Iraqi improvised explosive device that implants shards of 

metal into people that will remain there for the rest of their 

lives; the whole question of how does somebody rehabilitate 

a life? And what is the VA doing about that? JIM is all over 

that subject. 

When he switched parties to be an Independent, woe be 

the person who said: Switch parties from Republican to Democrat—no—Republican to Independent. And, yes, he got an 

enormous amount of cheering and praise based upon his 

moral compass. He also got a lot of death threats. Life was 

very hard for him for a period of time. So he understood that 

was going to happen. But with JIM JEFFORDS, the moral 

compass always prevails. I think it is one of the reasons all 

of us here respect him so, admire him so, look to him as to 

what the Senate ought to be. 

I had never heard the word ‘‘ANWR’’ until it was explained 

to me by Senator JEFFORDS. He was there early because he 

was thinking, as always, of our children and grandchildren, 

and, as they say, their children too. We always take it one 

generation too far, but it is true. 

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Alternative fuels. Will the history books write about JIM

JEFFORDS on alternative fuels? Yes, they will. Do people generally in the Senate or elsewhere know that he has spent a 

career working on that? Probably not. 

Our air; they know about that. The groundwater; they 

probably know about that. But his work on alternative fuels 

is one of the most important things he’s done. 

Title I, Head Start, improving the lives of children, all of 

that has been talked about—Senator Harkin talked about, in 

1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act—he 

has always been looking ahead. Does that make him a Good 

Samaritan? Does that mean he is a do-gooder or does it 

mean that he does good? It is the second. He does what is 

comfortable to him and what he feels is just for the people 

he serves, not only in Vermont but across the United States 

of America. 

The work he has done with post-traumatic stress disorder 

is awesome in terms of those of us on the Veterans Committee. He is justifiably proud of the research and work done 

by Vermont’s White River Junction Veterans’ Administration 

Hospital to help veterans who are struggling, as they truly 

are, not just with the postwar physical problems of being 

wounded, but the psychological problems of that, as well. 

He has never sought the limelight, and he does not care 

about the limelight. He has been elected time after time 

probably partly because of that. Because he is not like so 

many other people who run for public office who want to tick 

off everything they have done. He is JIM JEFFORDS. And with 

JIM JEFFORDS comes a certain set of principles, a certain set 

of commitments to people. The people of Vermont have understood that over the years. So he has not had to promote 

himself in ways that others have to do. 

JIM has always had extraordinarily deep passions and convictions, but, at the same time, he has been a paragon of civility and humbleness. JIM has a gentle voice, but his resolve 

and commitment to stand up for vulnerable children, veterans in need, and our environment is assertive and strong. 

Throughout his career, JIM has made some very tough personal decisions. Take his decision to switch parties to be an 

Independent in the summer of 2001. Regardless which party 

you are a member of, I think all of us would agree that given 

the fact that his move fundamentally changed the governing 

structure of the Senate, it truly was a profile in courage. 

Time and time again, JIM has been willing to take risks for 

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his beliefs, and he deserves our respect and admiration for 

such independence. 

In terms of public service, JIM JEFFORDS has lived a life 

that many aspire to. He has spent nearly every day of his 

life working to make the lives of people better. In the 1950s, 

he served in the U.S. Navy, and until 1990 he was in the 

Naval Reserve, where he retired as a captain. In the 1960s, 

he began his political service, first as a Vermont State Senator, then as Vermont’s Attorney General, and then, in the 

wake of the Watergate scandal, he became one of the very 

few Republicans elected to Congress in 1974. 

JIM has been a true steward of the environment. Long before many of us knew what ANWR was, he was fighting to 

preserve the environment for our grandchildren and their 

grandchildren. He has been at the forefront of fighting to 

make sure our air and ground water are safe for our citizens, 

and he has fought for the use of alternative fuels. His efforts 

have truly cut a trailblazing path for many generations to 

come. 

Over the years, JIM and I have worked on many issues together, and I am particularly proud of what we have done 

for our students and for our veterans. He understands how 

important it is to make sure that our citizens get started on 

the right foot. He believes that the first years of a child’s life 

are absolutely critical in the life and future of that person, 

and that is why he has worked so hard to push for greater 

funding for Head Start and other early education programs. 

And that is why he has worked on Title I—to help low-performing students, who disproportionately live in the rural 

areas that make up much of West Virginia and Vermont, 

achieve the standards they must meet. 

That sort of Good Samaritan principle has always guided 

JIM’s life and career. He has been extraordinary in advocating for those whose needs are often forgotten. In fact, perhaps no American living today and certainly no American 

legislator—I want to echo here what Senator Harkin has 

said—has done more to advance the educational success of 

those with disabilities. Almost from his arrival in Congress, 

JIM took extraordinary steps because he believed that the 

needs of others simply could not wait. In 1975, as a House 

freshman, JIM co-authored what would later be known as the 

Individual with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA. IDEA 

serves as a Federal commitment to give students with disabilities a better education. 

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It was an extraordinary legislative achievement, one that 

had even greater implications in terms of setting a moral 

baseline imperative that we must meet the needs of those 

who live difficult lives. JIM has worked, not for the wellheeled or the heavy-hitting lobbyist—he has tirelessly 

worked for the people who truly need help. 

I have also been proud to serve with JIM on the Senate 

Veterans’ Affairs Committee. He has been an important 

voice in calling for compassionate care for our veterans, especially those veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. 

We both have States with a very large number of soldiers 

and veterans, and we both know how important it is for our 

soldiers and veterans to have the health care they have 

earned and deserve. The two of us have been allies in pushing for greater funding and resources to help our soldiers 

with PTSD, and I know that JIM is justifiably proud of the 

research and work by Vermont’s White River Junction to 

help veterans struggling with PTSD. 

JIM JEFFORDS has never sought the limelight—he has 

sought results. He has always done his work in the words of 

Shakespeare, ‘‘with the modest stillness and humility that 

becomes any human.’’ But when one looks back at his record, 

you can see that the modest man from Shrewsbury, VT, has 

left his mark on virtually every piece of education, job training, and disability legislation over the past quarter century. 

It is difficult to determine how many people JIM’s efforts 

have helped, but if it were possible to quantify his efforts, I 

know we would find that hundreds of thousands of lives have 

been improved because of his actions in Vermont and across 

the country. 

The Senate this year is losing a treasure, a man who in 

the best tradition of the Senate has never been afraid of taking a heroic, principled stand without having to make a lot 

of noise. Sharon and I are personally losing good friends in 

JIM and his wife Liz. And Americans all over the country are 

losing one of the most dedicated fighters for the basic rights 

that too many disadvantaged people are shortchanged on. I 

wish my friend well in his retirement. 

I close with the sadness of losing in our body somebody 

such as Senator JEFFORDS. People go to him. People are comforted by his presence. People are emboldened by his nature. 

They see what it is he does not say to promote himself or his 

ideas, and somehow they are attracted to those ideas because 

they understand if it comes out of JIM JEFFORDS, it is good 

for the public. 

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So I think of his family too, I say to Senator Boxer, and 

I think of how proud they must be. I also think of just myself, to be honest, how sad I am going to be not being able 

to sit next to JIM JEFFORDS and share his humor and to look 

upon his greatness—not just his nose, but his greatness: the 

classic Vermonter, the classic New Englander. He has been 

so incredibly good for the Senate. 

Mr. President, I yield the floor. 

Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, I rise today to acknowledge 

the extraordinary career of Senator JIM JEFFORDS. 

For the past 32 years, JIM JEFFORDS has served the citizens of Vermont and the American people with integrity, intellectual honesty, and diligence. When faced with the choice 

between political convenience or protecting the interests of 

his constituents, JIM JEFFORDS always stood for Vermont 

and the concerns of hard-working Americans. When others 

decided to do what was popular in Washington or among the 

chattering classes, JIM remained true to his values. He has 

been a model of principled leadership, often ahead of his 

time. 

Long before protecting our environment and precious natural resources occupied America’s consciousness, JIM was 

leading on these issues. Working across party lines throughout his career, including as chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, JIM JEFFORDS urged the 

President to strengthen antipollution measures, investigated 

the effects of greenhouse gas emissions, and promoted increased fuel efficiency. During his time in the U.S. Senate he 

introduced the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, the 

High-Performance Green Buildings Act, and the Renewable 

Energy and Energy Efficiency Investment Act. 

JIM JEFFORDS has never lost sight of his constituents and 

their needs. He loyally stood by farmers in Vermont and all 

over the Nation when he fought President Bush’s dairy tax, 

extended MILC, the Milk Income Loss Contracts Program, 

and supported the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act. 

JIM JEFFORDS has also committed his career to improving 

education, which he has treated as one of the great callings 

of our time. Speaking at a Rally for Education in 2002, JIM

JEFFORDS said of education funding that ‘‘it is not an option, 

it is a necessity, for our children, for our schools and for the 

future of our great Nation.’’ JIM JEFFORDS championed the 

Head Start Program, increased funding for elementary, secondary, and higher education, and sponsored the Better Education for Students and Teachers Act. He has also provided 

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unwavering support to American children with disabilities 

that face a unique set of challenges in navigating our education system. Even as a freshman Congressman some 30 

years ago, JIM JEFFORDS managed to marshal his colleagues 

in order to pass the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

Act. 

As a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, I have had the opportunity to work closely with Senator JEFFORDS and his capable staff. His office and his standards of professionalism inspire great respect. 

On a personal level, I continue to admire a public servant 

who has so consistently followed his conscience. Time magazine recognized JIM JEFFORDS as the ‘‘Person of the Week’’

for his ‘‘revolutionary’’ party switch in 2001. I do not believe 

that JIM necessarily set out to start a revolution; rather he 

invoked what might be considered a revolutionary idea to 

some in Washington: government ought to serve the concerns 

and interests of ordinary Americans instead of catering to 

fringe groups or election year antics. In hindsight, most will 

hail JIM JEFFORDS’s principled decision to switch parties, 

though I know the decision was a difficult one for him and 

strained his relationship with many in this body. But JIM

JEFFORDS did what he thought was right, and I applaud his 

courage and his example of leadership. 

So I thank Senator JEFFORDS not only for his lifetime of 

service and accomplishments but for having raised the bar 

for all of us. 

I wish JIM JEFFORDS and his family many happy years 

ahead. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont is 

recognized. 

Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues for 

their very generous and kind comments. Their remarks remind me—all of us—the Senate is a family. I also thank my 

colleagues for their friendship. I am honored to be able to 

serve with you, especially you, I say to Senator Rockefeller. 

You have been very kind to me over the years. I have followed your guidance, and it has been good. I thank all of my 

colleagues for their friendship and am honored to serve with 

you. And as I go forward—I don’t know—I am going to wonder why I am going forward and not just staying with you. 

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Mr. President, now I guess we should proceed with the 

process that is normal. I thank the leader. 

FRIDAY, September 29, 2006 

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, unfortunately, when Congress 

meets again in January 2007, this Chamber and our Nation 

will be without the services of our esteemed colleague, Senator JIM JEFFORDS. 

Senator JEFFORDS has announced that he is retiring so he 

may spend more time with his lovely wife Elizabeth. May I 

make clear that Elizabeth’s gain is the Senate’s loss. 

For 32 years, JIM JEFFORDS has proudly and superbly represented his beautiful State of Vermont and our great country in the U.S. Congress. 

From 1975 to 1988, he was Vermont’s lone Member in the 

U.S. House of Representatives. Now having served three 

terms in the Senate, he has decided to retire. I regret his departure. He is a Senator I have admired. He is a Senator I 

respected since he first came to this Chamber. 

Through his hard work and his dedication to this institution, he has helped to make the Senate a better place. For 

that I have been grateful and thankful. He is a polite, friendly, mild-mannered man whom it is always pleasant to be 

around. He is a U.S. Navy veteran who has never failed to 

demonstrate his love for our great country. 

This Senator is a great American who possesses a passion 

to do the right thing no matter what the consequence. He is 

a U.S. Senator who has always displayed a reverence for this 

institution, the Senate of the United States. 

While he has a natural, easygoing manner, he is a Senator 

who will work feverishly, who will work tirelessly for the 

causes in which he believes. Seldom has the Senate seen a 

stronger or more avid defender of the environment. He was 

one of the founders of the Congressional Solar Coalition. He 

has chaired the House Environment Study Conference and 

the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. In 

Congress, he has constantly sought to broaden and to 

strengthen the power of the Environmental Protection Agency, and he has worked to ensure that important agency does 

its job. 

His efforts to protect our environment have earned him 

recognition and awards from a number of environmental organizations, including the prestigious Sierra Club. 

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Senator JEFFORDS has been one of the Senate’s foremost 

promoters of the rights of disabled Americans. Senator JEFFORDS has worked to open opportunities for them. He is coauthor of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 

IDEA. For his efforts on behalf of disabled Americans, the 

National Multiple Sclerosis Society, NMSS, honored him as 

its ‘‘Senator of the Year.’’

Senator JEFFORDS has been a promoter of the arts. He was 

a cofounder of the Congressional Arts Caucus, and not long 

ago as head of the Senate committee that oversees the National Endowment for the Arts, Senator JEFFORDS—yes, Senator JEFFORDS—was able to block a House effort to abolish 

the NEA. 

Senator JEFFORDS has been one of the Senate’s biggest and 

best promoters of education. I have read some criticisms of 

Senator JEFFORDS for his continuous efforts to seek more 

and more funding for educational programs for America’s 

youth, America’s young people, especially special educational 

programs. He has even been accused of ‘‘bartering his vote’’

on legislation for his own pet educational projects. I think 

this was probably meant as a criticism. If it were, I am sure 

that it is a criticism that Senator JEFFORDS wears with 

pride. 

I don’t think there is anything more important to Senator 

JEFFORDS than seeing that all of America’s children have 

every opportunity to fulfill their educational pursuits. For 

this, he certainly has my respect and my admiration. I applaud him. Yes, I applaud Senator JEFFORDS. 

Throughout his congressional career, Senator JEFFORDS, 

son of a chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court and 

graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, has always displayed an independence of spirit, an independence of 

spirit for which he has been labeled a loose cannon. Knowing 

Senator JEFFORDS as I do, I know that his independence 

stems from an unrelenting determination to place doing the 

right thing above political or personal interest. 

While in the House of Representatives, Senator JEFFORDS

was the only Republican to vote against President Reagan’s 

tax cut bill because he charged it would increase the national 

deficit. And it did. In the Senate, he was one of two Republicans who voted against President Bush’s first round of tax 

cuts because those cuts were irresponsible and favored the 

wealthy. Senator JEFFORDS was the only Republican Senator 

to cosponsor President Clinton’s effort to overhaul our national health care system. 

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I remember Senator JEFFORDS for being 1 of only 23 Senators who voted against going to war in Iraq. I have been in 

this Senate 48 years this year. I have cast 17,752 rollcall 

votes. I will say it again, 17,752 rollcall votes. And of all 

these votes—I have said it before—I am most proud of that 

particular vote, the vote against that arrogant and reckless 

charge to war in Iraq. 

The Constitution says Congress shall have the power to 

declare war. It does not say that ‘‘one person,’’ it does not say 

that the President of the United States, be he Republican or 

Democrat, shall have the power to declare war. 

So, 23 Senators, including Robert Byrd and JIM JEFFORDS, 

voted to uphold the Constitution of the United States. That 

was the greatest vote ever cast in my 48 years in the Senate. 

If we only had more Senators with the courage, the determination and the character of JIM JEFFORDS, we might have 

avoided becoming involved in the bloody mess in which we 

now find ourselves in Iraq—with no end in sight. The Senate 

needs more Members like JIM JEFFORDS. 

In September 2000, Congressional Quarterly included a 

nice profile of Senator JEFFORDS. That article discussed his 

willingness to take independent positions even on the most 

partisan issues. It also discussed his black belt in the martial arts and how he had joined with other esteemed colleagues—Senators Lott, Craig, and Ashcroft—to form that 

magnificent vocal group ‘‘The Singing Senators.’’ Congressional Quarterly pointed out that Senator JEFFORDS ‘‘calls 

his own tunes,’’ and I say he does. He calls his own tunes. 

Eight months later, CQ proved prophetic. In May 2001 

came an event for which Senator JEFFORDS will often be remembered in his 32 years in Congress, the event that he has 

called his own personal ‘‘declaration of independence.’’ He 

followed his conscience and followed the path best for him. 

As I said before, we need more Senators like JIM JEFFORDS. 

I am sorry to have to say goodbye to this unassuming, 

fiercely independent man. As much as I would prefer that he 

stay, I understand and I respect his wishes. 

I wish Senator JEFFORDS and his lovely wife Elizabeth the 

blessing of Almighty God as they begin the next chapter of 

their lives. 

Mr. ENZI. . . . Mr. President, as the session draws to a 

close and we complete the consideration of the bills before us 

by casting our final votes of the session, I rise to express my 

gratitude and best wishes to one of our colleagues who will 

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be retiring when the final gavel brings to a close the current 

session of Congress. 

JIM JEFFORDS, my good friend from Vermont, has decided 

to return home so that he can spend more time with his family. Although I will miss him, as will we all, I understand the 

reasons for his departure. There is nothing more important 

than family and the bonds between us and our children—and 

grandchildren—are stronger than any other in our life. 

As the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, I will miss JIM’s good ideas, his commitment to making a difference, and his strong determination to 

make our education and health care systems operate more 

effectively and efficiently. He was an important presence on 

the committee and he and his staff were always willing to 

work long and hard on the initiatives they proposed to help 

make our Nation a better place for us all to live. 

Looking back, 1974 was a good year for both JIM and me. 

I was elected to my first term as mayor of Gillette, WY, and 

JIM was elected to his first term in the House of Representatives. We both took office full of great hopes and dreams as 

we looked forward to doing everything we could to make a 

difference in the lives of the people we were elected to serve. 

From the beginning, JIM was very clear on his mission in 

Congress. He had come here to make sure that our most precious resource—our children—were well taken care of. For 

JIM, the issue of education was not something he took lightly. It was a commitment that came from his heart. He took 

the problems of our schools personally and he was determined to do something about them. He wanted everyone to 

have the same advantages in life that he had. That was his 

goal and it inspired him and drove his active involvement in 

the consideration of the education issues that would come before the House and the Senate. 

JIM’s passion for education not only drove his work on the 

subject in Congress, but it also led him in the years to come 

to serve as a tutor at a public school on Capitol Hill each 

week as part of a literacy program he created. That program 

reaches out to involve us all in supporting our public schools. 

Its philosophy is simple. Anyone can make a difference in 

our schools. All it takes is a little investment of our time and 

a willingness to share our talents with the students of a local 

school. 

Not long after JIM had taken his oath of office in the 

House, he began working on what was to be one of his greatest successes, the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

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Act, or IDEA as it has come to be known. Over the years 

IDEA has ensured that students with disabilities have equal 

access to a good education—and a promising future. Thanks 

to this landmark legislation those living with disabilities will 

receive the education, support and encouragement we all 

need to help us become all we can be and reach our full potential. 

As he served in the House, JIM’s commitment to working 

today to make things better for us all tomorrow led him to 

fight for meaningful environmental protections, a more effective and responsive health care system, and a sound fiscal 

budget that didn’t overspend our present resources and leave 

a bill behind for future generations to pay. 

That is the philosophy that directed and guided JIM when 

he ran for and won a seat in the Senate in 1988. It wasn’t 

long after he had taken the oath of office for his new position 

that he began working on the reauthorization of the Clean 

Air Act—another part of his legislative passion that will continue to be a key part of his legacy in the Senate. Even 

though he had just begun his service in the Senate at the 

time, his good ideas and commitment to the protection and 

preservation of our natural resources made him an important part of the team that would write and promote this important bill. 

No one was surprised that JIM was a key Member who 

was involved in so many difficult and important projects as 

soon as he arrived in the Senate. He preceded me as chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and, under his leadership the committee took a close 

look at our schools and the quality of the education we provide our children. It considered how we might improve the 

training we provide our Nation’s workers so that they might 

find and keep better and better jobs. And, it continued to 

look for ways that we might provide support and empower 

those living with disabilities so that all Americans are able 

to maximize their potential and live their own version of the 

American dream. 

Back home, JIM has deep roots in his State that date back 

for generations. His father was a chief justice of the Vermont 

Supreme Court and I am sure he learned a great deal about 

politics, life and the law from his Dad. 

In addition, coming from Vermont, JIM has a great understanding of the challenges faced by small and rural States 

and the local industries they depend on to keep local and 

State economies healthy and strong. It has been said that 

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JIM knows as much about the dairy industry as anyone directly involved in it in his State. He knows firsthand that 

the one-size-fits-all solutions that work well for the big 

States, all too often penalize the smaller ones and leave 

them without the support they need to address the same 

problems the large States face. In the years to come, when 

I think of JIM I will remember how he shared his dream of 

a better America with us. By daring us to dream, too, he encouraged us to work together so that the future would be a 

brighter one for us, our children and our grandchildren. 

There is an old saying the Native Americans in Wyoming 

know well. We have not inherited the Earth from our ancestors, we are borrowing it from our children. It’s a philosophy 

that JIM took to heart and put into practice every day during 

his many years of public service. 

TUESDAY, December 5, 2006 

Mr. HAGEL. Mr. President . . . As we recognize, it is a distinct privilege and high honor to serve our country in any capacity, and certainly none higher than in uniform. But it is 

especially important that we recognize those who have given 

years of their lives, sacrificing their families, their own time, 

to help make a better world for all of us. I know of no capacity in which we serve our country that has given those who 

have had this rare opportunity to serve in the Senate anything more noble than trying to shape a better world from 

this Senate. 

These individuals who will leave the Senate, some on their 

own terms, some on the terms of the election, but, nonetheless, in their own specific way have contributed a great deal 

to this country. 

I take a few minutes to recognize each. . . . 

Senator JIM JEFFORDS, from Vermont. Senator JEFFORDS, 

in his long, distinguished service to our country, served in 

the House of Representatives, and then served here in the 

Senate. He served our country in the U.S. Navy. JIM JEFFORDS’s life has been about service. 

I had an opportunity to get acquainted particularly with 

Senator JEFFORDS and work closely with him on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA. There has been 

no one in this Senate over the last 25 years more committed 

to education for our young people than JIM JEFFORDS. We 

will miss JIM JEFFORDS. . . . 

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Mr. President, in conclusion, it is not easy to put one’s self 

on the firing line and offer one’s self as a candidate for any 

office. It takes a certain amount of courage and, I suspect, 

a little dose of insanity. But nonetheless individuals who believe deeply enough to commit themselves to a cause greater 

than their own self-interests need to be recognized. Having 

nothing to do with me or you or any one individual, but it 

is the essence of our country, it is the very fabric of our democracy that makes it all work and probably gives rise to, 

more than any one reason, why we have been such a successful nation for over 200 years—because people from all walks 

of life, in every community, in every State, offer themselves 

for office. Whether it is a mayor, a Governor, city councilman, county official, a sheriff, these individuals deserve recognition. 

We all make mistakes. That is who we are. But in the end, 

it is not unlike what Teddy Roosevelt once referred to in his 

magnificent quote about the man in the arena. And it is the 

man and the woman in the arena who change our lives. It 

makes a better world that shapes history, that defines our 

destiny. And for these individuals who will no longer have 

that opportunity to serve our country in the Senate, we wish 

them well, we thank them, and we tell them we are proud 

of them and their families and wish them Godspeed. 

Mr. President, I thank you for the time and yield the floor. 

WEDNESDAY, December 6, 2006 

Mr. REED. Mr. President, this is an opportunity to recognize the service of several of our colleagues who are departing from the Senate. To Senator JEFFORDS, Senator Frist, 

Senator DeWine, Senator Talent, Senator Santorum, Senator 

Burns, and Senator Allen, let me express my appreciation for 

their service to their States and their service to the Nation 

and wish them well. . . . 

To all my colleagues who served and conclude their service, let me once again express deep appreciation for their 

friendship and for their service to the Nation. 

I yield the floor. 

Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, we are coming to the 

end of the session and 10 of our colleagues are retiring. I 

want to say a word about them . . . 

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Or JIM JEFFORDS, a former Navy captain, who has had so 

much to do with offering legislation for clean air and children with disabilities. 

When the most recent class of Senators was sworn into office nearly 2 years ago, in the gallery were three women. 

One was the grandmother of Barack Obama. She was from 

Kenya. One was the mother of Senator Salazar, a 10th generation American. One was the mother of Mel Martinez, the 

new Republican National Committee chairman, who, with 

her husband, put her son on an airplane when he was 14 

years old and sent him from Cuba to the United States, not 

knowing if she would ever see him again. 

In a way, each one of us who is here is an accident. None 

of us knew we would be here. Each of us is privileged to 

serve, and one of the greatest privileges is to serve with our 

colleagues. We will miss them and we are grateful for their 

service. 

I yield the floor. 

Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, as the time for my departure 

from the Senate draws near, on behalf of the greatest blessing in my life, my wife Susan, and on behalf of myself, I 

thank all of my colleagues for their many courtesies and 

friendships that have been forged during the past 6 years. I 

offer a few concluding reflections about our time here together, as well as about the future of our Republic. . . . 

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I see others who 

wish to speak, and I will make a couple of brief comments. 

In the comments of the Senator from Virginia [Mr. Allen], 

his final couple of comments recalled for me a statement 

made in the closing of the Constitutional Convention in 

Philadelphia, when on the back of the chair of the presiding 

officer was a sunburst. Someone opined in that Constitutional Convention: Dr. Franklin, is that a rising sun or is it 

a setting sun? And Franklin ventured to say that with the 

birth of the new Nation, with the creation of the new Constitution, that he thought it was a rising sun. 

Indeed, it is that hope of which the Senator from Virginia 

has just spoken that motivates this Senator from Florida to 

get up and go to work every day, and to look at this Nation’s 

challenges, not as a Democratic problem or a Republican 

problem, but as an American problem, that needs to be 

solved in an American way instead of a partisan way. 

We have had far too much partisanship over the last several years across this land, and, indeed, in this Chamber 

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itself. And of the Senators who are leaving this Chamber, I 

think they represent the very best of America, and on occasion have risen in a bipartisan way. It has been this Senator’s great privilege to work with these Senators: Allen of 

Virginia, Burns of Montana, Chafee of Rhode Island, Dayton 

of Minnesota, DeWine of Ohio, Frist of Tennessee, JEFFORDS

of Vermont, Santorum of Pennsylvania, Sarbanes of Maryland, Talent of Missouri. 

As the Good Book in Ecclesiastes says: There is a time to 

be born and a time to die. There is a time to get up, and a 

time to go to bed. There is a time for a beginning, and there 

is a time of ending. 

For these Senators who are leaving, it is clearly not an 

ending. It is an ending of this chapter in their lives, but this 

Senator from Florida wanted to come and express his appreciation for their public service, to admonish those where admonishment is needed when this Chamber, indeed, this Government, has gotten too partisan, but to express this Senator’s appreciation for the quiet moments of friendship and 

reflection and respect in working together, which is the glue 

that makes this Government run. 

Whether you call it bipartisanship, whether you call it 

friendship, whether you call it mutual respect, whatever you 

call it, the way you govern a nation as large and as complicated and as diverse as our Nation is—as the Good Book 

says: Come, let us reason together—that is what this Senator tries to be about. And that is what this Senator will try 

to continue to do in the new dawn of a new Congress. So I 

wanted to come and express my appreciation for those Senators who will not be here, for the great public service they 

have rendered. 

Mr. President, I am truly grateful for their personal 

friendship and for their public service. 

I yield the floor. 

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, most of us remember the 

tectonic shift that occurred in the Senate in 2001, in the 

month of May, when our colleague, JIM JEFFORDS, changed 

parties. He moved from being a Republican to becoming an 

Independent Senator and lined up with the Democratic Caucus. Never before had control of the Senate changed on the 

decision of one Senator. 

It wasn’t the first time JIM JEFFORDS had followed his conscience and made history. I can recall his alliance with my 

predecessor, Senator Paul Simon. At a time many years ago, 

in 1994, when Rwanda was facing a genocide, Paul Simon 

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and JIM JEFFORDS were the two voices in the United States 

who stood up and called for the Clinton administration to do 

something to stop this genocide. Unfortunately, it did not 

occur and hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives. 

But that call to action by JIM JEFFORDS was just one of the 

achievements of his public career he can point to with pride. 

During that genocide, he was the ranking Republican of 

the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa. The 

chairman of that committee, Paul Simon, joined with him in 

that effort. Five weeks after the slaughter in Rwanda began, 

Senators Simon and JEFFORDS phoned Gen. Romeo Dallaire, 

head of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Kigali, and asked 

what he needed. The desperate general said he needed 5,000 

American troops to stop the killing. Those two Senators, JEFFORDS and Simon, got on the phone, begging the White 

House to send the troops. They wrote in their common message: 

Obviously, there are risks involved, but we cannot sit by idly while this 

tragedy continues to unfold. 

Senators JEFFORDS and Simon received no reply, and the 

killings continued. Hundreds of thousands of innocent men, 

women, and children were killed or maimed. 

Later, Paul Simon would say: 

If every Member of the House and Senate had received 100 letters from 

people back home saying that we have to do something about Rwanda, when 

the crisis was first developing, then I think the response would have been 

different. 

So many times I have stood on the floor of the Senate 

pleading for our Nation to intervene to stop the genocide in 

Darfur. Each time, I have thought about Paul Simon and JIM

JEFFORDS. Had the President listened to them, hundreds of 

thousands of people in Rwanda could have survived that 

genocide. It doesn’t take a great deal of moral courage to follow your conscience when the world is on your side, but it 

is when you stand alone, knowing you may lose, and you follow your conscience anyway, that you demonstrate real 

moral courage. 

Time and again in his public career, JIM JEFFORDS, the retiring Senator from Vermont, has shown that courage. He 

has been an unwavering champion of children and families 

with special needs, the environment, affordable health care 

for all Americans, and budget policies that are both compassionate and responsible. He believes in moderation, tolerance, and that the Federal Government be committed to protecting basic individual freedoms. 

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Three years ago this week, Paul Simon died unexpectedly 

following heart surgery. At the end of this week, JIM JEFFORDS will be casting his last vote in the Senate. We wish 

him well in the next chapter of his life. Those of us who have 

had the privilege of working with JIM JEFFORDS, the new 

Senators who will join us soon, and those who will follow in 

years to come would do well to remember the moral courage 

of Senator JAMES JEFFORDS of Vermont. . . . 

I wish all of my colleagues who are retiring well as they 

begin the next chapters of their careers. 

Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I rise today to bid farewell 

to several of my friends here in Washington. Too often we 

get caught up here in the back-and-forth of politics and lose 

sight of the contributions of those with whom we work every 

day. It is only at moments such as these, at the end of a 

cycle, that we have a moment to reflect on the contributions 

of our colleagues. And while we may not always see eye to 

eye, this Senate is losing several admirable contributors who 

have made many sacrifices to serve our democracy. . . . 

I also want to say farewell to my friend from Vermont, 

Senator JIM Jeffords—a true Yankee Independent and a real 

treasure. When I joined the Veterans’ Affairs Committee 

with Senator JEFFORDS, I learned early on that he was an 

ally in standing up for America’s veterans. I was always impressed with his willingness to listen to all sides of an issue, 

and when he spoke, I was always listening. I have admired 

his stewardship of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and I know that the Senate, the people of Vermont, 

and people across our country will miss his leadership and 

his experience—more than three decades of service. . . . 

America, when held to its finest ideals, is more than a 

place on the globe or a work in progress. It is the inspiration 

to those around the world and here at home to seek out excellence within themselves and their beliefs. It has been a 

pleasure to work alongside each of these gentlemen, who 

have helped me as I have found my way, sometimes literally, 

through the halls of the Senate, in the pursuit of these greater ideals that we all share: security, prosperity, and an 

America that we leave better than when we arrived. These 

ideals will resonate here long after we all are gone and another generation stands in our place making the decisions of 

its day. 

Mr. FEINGOLD. . . . Mr. President, today I want to pay 

tribute to Senator JIM JEFFORDS, a man who has honorably 

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served Vermont and this country in the U.S. Senate since 

1989. The people of Vermont have been fortunate to be represented by a man who is as principled and dedicated to 

serving our Nation’s best interests as JIM JEFFORDS. 

Senator JEFFORDS will long be remembered for his courage 

and conviction and for his bold decision to leave the Republican Party and become an Independent. Never straying from 

his principles and his commitment to representing the interests of his constituents, Senator JEFFORDS made this decision despite the consequences for him personally. He knew 

his decision would enable him to better serve the people of 

Vermont and this Nation. His conviction was also clear when 

he voted against authorizing the President to use force in 

Iraq. He has also been an unyielding voice for upholding civil 

liberties and seeking to eliminate discrimination in the workplace, and I greatly respect him for his outspoken leadership 

on these critically important issues. 

I am proud to have worked with him on other widely ranging issues over the years. I want to particularly thank him 

for helping to pass the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act and 

eliminate soft money. Senator JEFFORDS also played a crucial 

role in the effort to pass much-needed Army Corps of Engineers reforms. Debate over these reforms was contentious at 

times, and his work behind the scenes and on the floor was 

needed to win support for changing the way the Corps does 

business. In the next Congress we will work to build on Senator JEFFORDS’s hard work and commitment to these important issues. 

As chairman and ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, he has been committed 

to reforming our Nation’s energy and environmental policies. 

He is a champion for our environment, and his leadership 

and expertise will be greatly missed. It is the responsibility 

of the next Congress to honor Senator JEFFORDS’s legacy in 

this area by redoubling our efforts to protect the environment. 

I was proud to work with Senator JEFFORDS on other critical issues as well. As a knowledgeable leader on education 

issues, having served as chairman of the Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions Committee, he pushed for reforms to 

the No Child Left Behind law. I was proud to work with him 

on efforts to support our military families and to cast votes 

alongside him to force Congress to be more fiscally responsible. 

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Here in the Senate, we will miss JIM JEFFORDS’s thoughtful leadership, his independence, and his friendship. He was 

a valued ally on so many issues, and I wish him all the best 

in his retirement. . . . 

THURSDAY, December 7, 2006 

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I have had the privilege of 

being here for the 28th year beginning shortly. I calculated 

not long ago that I have served with 261 individuals. I am 

not about to try and review all of the many magnificent 

friendships I am privileged to have through these years. Indeed, if one looks at the rewards, of which there are many 

serving in this historic institution, the Senate, it is the personal bonds, the friendships that we so firmly cement and 

that will last a lifetime as a consequence of our duties of 

serving the United States of America and in our respective 

States. 

We are called ‘‘United States’’ Senators. I often believe it 

is the first obligation, our Nation, the Republic for which it 

stands. . . . 

I would also like to pay tribute to nine other U.S. Senators 

who will retire from the Senate in the coming days. . . . 

Now, I would like to take a few moments to salute our majority leader, Senator Frist, as well as Senators Chafee, 

Burns, Santorum, DeWine, JEFFORDS, Talent, and Dayton. 

Each and every one of these U.S. Senators has served his 

State and his country with great distinction. 

Without a doubt, I could speak at-length in honor of each 

of these outstanding individuals. In light of time constraints, 

however, and the fact that so many of my colleagues wish to 

similarly pay tribute, I shall endeavor to keep my remarks 

brief. . . . 

From 1956 to 1959, Senator JIM JEFFORDS served in the 

U.S. Navy. He later served in the Naval Reserves. In 1989, 

after JIM had served the citizens of Vermont in State positions and in the U.S. House of Representatives, JIM was 

elected to the U.S. Senate. In the Senate, I have been 

pleased to work closely with him, particularly in serving 

with him on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

Committee and on the Environment and Public Works Committee. JIM chaired both committees during his years in the 

Senate. 

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While Senator JEFFORDS legislatively had many interests, 

I believe that improving the education of our children, particularly children with special needs, is the issue most dear 

to his heart. I remember him time and time again on the 

floor of the U.S. Senate pushing for increased funding for the 

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA. And, I remember joining him, and others, in pushing hard for mandatory IDEA funding after it became clear that the Congress 

would be unable to fulfill its funding commitment through 

the discretionary funding process. While, to date, we have 

not achieved full funding, it is without question that JIM

JEFFORDS’s Senate career has left a lasting, positive imprint 

that will improve America’s education system for years to 

come. . . . 

In conclusion, over the years I have served with each of 

these 10 Senators, each has not only been a trusted colleague, each has also been my friend. I will miss serving 

with each of them in the Senate but know that each will continue in public service in some capacity. I wish each and 

every one of them well in the years ahead. 

Mr. President, I see a number of colleagues here anxious 

to speak, and I have taken generously of the time the Presiding Officer has allowed me to speak. 

I yield the floor. 

Mr. CONRAD. . . . Mr. President, today I would like to take 

a moment to recognize my friend and colleague, JIM JEFFORDS, who after 32 years of distinguished service in Congress is retiring to spend more time with his family. 

JIM JEFFORDS’s family roots in Vermont can be traced all 

the way back to 1794. After attending public schools in Rutland, JIM received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his law degree from Harvard Law School. He 

served in the U.S. Navy and retired from the U.S. Naval Reserve. 

I have worked closely with JIM JEFFORDS for years on the 

Centrist Coalition. He is a good friend and someone I could 

always trust. JIM has always been independent-minded with 

a strong sense of integrity, a real commitment to fiscal responsibility, an unparalleled dedication to the environment, 

and a passion for improving education for our children. During his time in Congress, JIM JEFFORDS left his mark on 

some of the most important legislation this institution has 

passed, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the 2005 

highway bill. 

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In 2001, JIM JEFFORDS made a historic and difficult decision to switch his party affiliation to an Independent. He 

was never afraid to make tough decisions, and this one was 

no exception. It took courage to stand up against the rising 

tide, knowing that his decision would tip the balance in the 

Senate and set us on a new course. 

JIM JEFFORDS embodies what it means to be a good Senator—honesty, a strong work ethic, courage, dedication, and 

being true to one’s convictions. He is also thoughtful, modest, 

and soft spoken. With these character traits it is hard to believe that he has a black belt in tae kwon do. 

JIM JEFFORDS has been a true fighter for Vermont. His 

compassion and conviction will be missed in the U.S. Senate. 

I wish JIM and his family many happy years ahead. . . . 

Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the 

great service of retiring Senators Paul Sarbanes, Mark Dayton, and JAMES JEFFORDS. . . . 

I will also say a few words about Senator JEFFORDS. 

Senator JEFFORDS has ably represented Vermonters here 

in the Congress for decades. In doing so, he has reflected the 

independent spirit of Vermonters, and no more so than when 

he took the courageous step in 2001 to become an Independent and caucus with the Democrats. 

Since that time, I have had the great pleasure of working 

with Senator JEFFORDS on the Environment and Public 

Works Committee. His tenure at that committee was a fitting capstone to his career, as he has long been focused on 

environmental protection. 

Throughout his long and distinguished career, Senator 

JEFFORDS has been a strong advocate of renewable energy. 

In many ways, he has been ahead of his time. In 1990, he 

introduced a bill to promote ethanol and other alternative 

fuels, and nearly 10 years ago he introduced legislation to 

create a 20-percent renewable portfolio standard. During his 

tenure first as chairman, and then as ranking member of the 

EPW Committee, he has been a strong and clear voice for a 

cleaner environment. 

He has been an ally and a champion of reducing pollution 

from powerplants, fighting global warming, and making our 

buildings more energy efficient. And he has worked hard to 

hold the administration to task for numerous rollbacks of our 

landmark environmental laws. During his tenure on the 

committee, Senator JEFFORDS has been ably assisted by a 

staff led by Ken Connolly and Alison Taylor. I thank them 

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and Senator JEFFORDS’s entire staff for their assistance to 

me and my staff. 

Unfortunately, I could not attend the final EPW meeting 

this week, but I understand that Senator JEFFORDS announced that he is returning home to Vermont, and described home as ‘‘the place you can go where they have to 

take you in.’’

I know that Vermont will welcome Senator JEFFORDS back 

with open arms, and I know that he will always have a home 

away from home here in the Senate. 

Finally, I also wish the very best to my Republican colleagues who will leave the Senate at the conclusion of this 

Congress. The Senate, at its best, is a body that promotes bipartisanship, deliberation, and cooperation, and the dedication to shared values. It has been a privilege to work with 

my departing colleagues on the other side of the aisle. 

FRIDAY, December 8, 2006 

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I have a few more minutes before the 10:30 vote, and I take this time to say a few 

words about some of my colleagues who are retiring. We had 

a good bit of time yesterday devoted to their tremendous contributions, and as each of us, the 100 of us, do know each 

other pretty well, I have come to the floor to say a few things 

about several of the colleagues I have had the distinct pleasure of working with very closely. . . . 

Mr. President, I also want to remember for a minute the 

good work of Senator JEFFORDS. Senator JEFFORDS tends to 

be one of the quiet Members of the Senate. Some of us talk 

a lot more than others. He does not do much talking, but he 

sure gets a lot done. I will never forget, and the people of 

Louisiana are so grateful to Senator JEFFORDS, as he chaired 

the EPW Committee, for being one of the first Senators in 

this Chamber to recognize the extraordinary loss of our wetlands and what it would mean to south Louisiana and the 

Gulf of Mexico. And ultimately, of course, we saw the tragedy unfold before our eyes. Had we listened to Senator JEFFORDS, and the other few voices who were calling out years 

ago, perhaps some of that loss of life and billions of dollars 

of loss of property could have been averted. 

Senator JEFFORDS came down to Louisiana on several occasions. One I will never forget is standing with him in this 

very southern part of the State in Lafourche Parish, literally 

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almost into the gulf waters, we were so far down south. I 

was explaining to him—and this is far out from New Orleans. You have to try a little hard to get there. You fly into 

the big airport, and then you have to go by either bus or helicopter, and it is difficult. And, of course, Senator JEFFORDS’s 

health has not been great lately. But he was a real trooper, 

and he said: No, Mary. I want to go, and I want to see it. 

So we flew him way down to the wetlands, and he and I 

were standing there, and I was explaining to him how his 

work in the Senate was affecting the lives of my constituents 

down in the bayou and was saying: Senator, almost once a 

week or so some fishing vessel or shrimp trawler runs into 

this bridge. And when the bridge shuts down, we literally 

not only keep schoolchildren from getting to school and parents from getting to their children, but we literally shut 

down the whole offshore oil and gas industry or a big part 

of it, because when a bridge shuts down, none of the trucks 

can move, no supplies can get out to the rigs. Don’t you 

think this country, which spends trillions of dollars every 

year, can spend a few million dollars to fix this bridge? 

The words had not gotten out of my mouth when a shrimp 

trawler hit the bridge, and the bridge moved slightly. The 

big wings of the shrimp trawler collapsed, and Senator JEFFORDS looked at me and said: Now, Mary, you have gotten 

way too dramatic on this point. You did not have to set that 

stage for that boat to hit that bridge. He said: I get the message. So we, of course, had a laugh about that. 

But his sense of humor, his commitment, and his passion 

for the environment and the people who live on the land, the 

people who live in this natural environment, is what has always made me a real fan of his. I want him to know I am 

going to miss him and his staff who have also been extremely kind to me and my staff in the Senate. . . . 

To all of our retiring Members, I say thank you. Thank 

you for your efforts on behalf of my State when you were 

needed and thank you for your service to America. 

Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I also will say a word about 

a couple of my colleagues who are leaving, and I will be 

brief. . . . 

I know we all move on at some time and that none of us 

is irreplaceable. But by the same token, these colleagues of 

ours who will be leaving will be missed and they will be remembered for their great service to the Senate, to their 

States, and to the United States of America. 

I yield the floor. 

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Mr. DEWINE. . . . I also sincerely thank Judiciary Committee Chairmen Specter and Hatch; HELP Committee 

Chairmen Enzi, Gregg, and JEFFORDS; and Intelligence Committee Chairmen Roberts and Shelby. I have been fortunate 

to have passed dozens of bills and amendments in my career 

in the Senate, and most of them were provisions that I 

worked along with these chairmen to pass. It would never 

have happened without them. I appreciate their help. 

I appreciate all the help Finance Committee Chairman 

Chuck Grassley has given me—a dear friend—especially 

when it came to passing my bills to improve the foster care 

and adoption system. I have worked with many Members of 

the Senate on this very important issue, foster care and 

adoption, including Senators Jay Rockefeller, Mary 

Landrieu, Larry Craig, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, John 

Chafee, Jesse Helms, Bill Roth, JIM JEFFORDS, Dan Coats. 

They all shared a passion for foster care children. They all 

shared a passion for the adoption issue. . . . 

Mr. President, I want to wish the best to all of my fellow 

Senators who were defeated this fall or who are retiring this 

year—Senators Frist, Santorum, Talent, Burns, Allen, 

Chafee, Dayton, and JEFFORDS. They are all good people and 

all good friends. I wish them well. . . . 

Mr. DODD. . . . Mr. President, today I pay tribute to my 

departing colleagues who have, for a time, lent their talents, 

their convictions, and their hard work to this distinguished 

body. I may have had my disagreements with them, but the 

end of a term is a time for seeing colleagues not simply as 

politicians, but as partners who have ‘‘toiled, and wrought, 

and thought with me.’’ Each, in his own way, was distinctive; 

and each, in his own way, will be sorely missed. . . . 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, the great Senator Daniel Webster once remarked that the Senate is a place ‘‘of equals of 

men of individual honor . . . and personal character.’’

He was right, and we can see what he was talking about 

in the fine men the Senate is losing to retirement at the end 

of this Congress: Senator Frist, Senator Sarbanes, Senator 

JEFFORDS, and Senator Dayton. 

On previous occasions, I have talked about how much I appreciated serving with Senators Frist and JEFFORDS. Today, 

I would like to say a few more words about Senators Sarbanes and Dayton. . . . 

Mr. President, Mark Dayton, like Paul Sarbanes, like JIM

JEFFORDS, like Bill Frist, will be missed. 

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The Senate—and our country—are better off because of 

their service. 

Mr. HATCH. . . . Mr. President, I would like to extend my 

best wishes to my good friend and colleague, Senator JIM

JEFFORDS. 

For the last 18 years, I have been privileged to serve with 

JIM here in the U.S. Senate. When he first came to the Senate in 1989, he was assigned to the Senate Labor and 

Human Resources Committee. At the time, I was the ranking minority member of that committee and worked closely 

with JIM. In fact, when JIM later became chairman of the 

committee, he changed the name to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, better known today 

as the Senate HELP Committee. He did that because he felt 

that the purpose of the committee was to help people. Later, 

he and I also served together as members of the Senate Finance Committee. 

JIM has an undergraduate degree from Yale University 

and graduated from Harvard University Law School. He 

served in the U.S. Navy for 3 years and was in the Reserves 

until 1990 when he retired as a captain. 

He started his career in politics in 1966 when he was 

elected to the Vermont State Senate. In 1968, he became the 

attorney general for the State of Vermont. In 1974, he was 

elected to the U.S. House of Representatives where he tells 

a very interesting story about the day that he was sworn in 

as a Member of the House. As JIM tells it, 1974 was not a 

good year to be a Republican candidate—for those who do 

not remember, it was the year that President Richard Nixon 

resigned due to the Watergate scandal. The 1974 freshman 

class had 92 new Members of which only 17 were Republicans—two of them were our Senate colleagues, Chuck 

Grassley and JIM JEFFORDS. At the time, Chuck was on 

crutches and JIM was in a neck brace. As the two walked 

down the aisle, JIM heard one of the Democrat Members say, 

‘‘There are two we almost got.’’ Well, all I can say is, thank 

goodness the Democrats didn’t get Chuck and JIM. The two 

of them have been an integral part of both the House and 

the Senate. 

Senator JEFFORDS has always been known for his self deprecating sense of humor. I will never forget his story about 

being interviewed by a reporter with Congresswoman 

Millicent Fenwick, who, as many know, was a very elegant 

woman from New Jersey, on their first impressions of what 

it was like to live in Washington. Congresswoman Fenwick 

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talked about her lovely view of the city from across the river. 

When asked what it was like for him to be in Washington, 

JIM replied that he lived in a Winnebago in the parking lot 

of a Holiday Inn and he had a view of the hotel dumpster. 

Quite honestly, JIM is probably one of the most humble and 

down to earth people I have met in the Senate. 

JIM is someone who fought hard for increased education 

funding, especially for special needs children. He is also very 

passionate about environmental issues. But in my opinion, 

one of JIM’s most significant achievements was the difference 

he made on health care issues. JIM was committed to providing a prescription drug benefit to Medicare beneficiaries 

and was actively involved in writing the tripartisan Medicare prescription drug bill which was considered on the floor 

of the Senate in 2002. JIM, Chuck Grassley, former Senator 

John Breaux, Senator Olympia Snowe, and I all got together 

and wrote a bill that provided a drug benefit for Medicare 

beneficiaries. It was the foundation of the Medicare prescription drug benefit, Medicare Part D, which was included in 

the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. JIM provided valuable input and did his best to look out for what was in the 

best interests of senior citizens and the disabled. So far, 38 

million Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in the Medicare 

Part D Program. 

Before I close, I want to share an insightful story about 

JIM that is indicative of the way he has led his life. When 

JIM interviewed Paul Harrington to be the HELP Committee’s health policy director, it was at his home in Shrewsbury, VT. Shrewsbury is a very rural town in a very rural 

State and that is best typified by the Brown Covered Bridge. 

JIM conducted the job interview in his garage where he had 

a large pile of bent nails on his work bench. While he discussed the possibility of Paul joining his staff, they each 

began straightening out the used nails. At the end of the 

conversation they had created quite a large pile of nails that 

were useful again. Paul shared this experience with many of 

his friends and colleagues when he left the Senate because 

he felt that the circumstances of the job interview were indicative of JIM’s philosophy and his approach to problem 

solving. I couldn’t agree more. There’s a practical side to 

JIM’s nature that seeks to adapt old solutions to solving new 

problems. Using the analogy of the nails, JIM has always 

been able to take up used ideas from the past and put them 

to good use in new circumstances by reshaping them to fit 

the new needs of today. 

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I want everyone to know that I consider JIM to be one of 

my dear friends in the Senate, and while I was disappointed 

when he decided to become an Independent, I respected his 

decision. And so did former Senate Majority Leader Bob 

Dole, who is a close friend of JIM’s. In fact, on the first year 

anniversary of JIM’s big decision, Bob sent JIM a pineapple 

upside down cake. He told JIM that he looked all over for a 

cake to send him and came to the conclusion that a pineapple upside down cake described JIM the best. While that 

may be true, let me say that JIM is a man who has the best 

of intentions and always does what he believes is in the best 

interests of his constituents. 

While serving in the Senate, JIM has always been an independent force and that is one of the main reasons that I respect him so much. Policy always came before politics, something very rare in Washington these days. He has a great 

love for the institution. He is passionate about issues he 

cares about and it showed when he offered an amendment 

in committee or spoke on the Senate floor. 

JIM has dedicated his life to public service and the great 

people of Vermont are very fortunate to have had him representing them in both the House of Representatives and 

the Senate. He is a great legislator and he will be missed by 

all of us. I wish JIM JEFFORDS all the best in the years 

ahead. . . . 

Mr. LEVIN. . . . Mr. President, when this session of Congress comes to an end, Senator JIM JEFFORDS will leave the 

Senate. He has been a thoughtful and independent voice 

here, and he will be greatly missed. 

Senator JEFFORDS has been a true champion for the environment. He was instrumental in passing the 1990 Clean Air 

Act, and he chaired the Environment and Public Works Committee from 2001 to 2002. He has fought for policies that encourage renewable energy use and that reduce emissions of 

carbon and other pollutants. 

Senator JEFFORDS is a strong believer in promoting economic development that also protects the environment and 

preserves the landscape. In the 1960s, when he served as a 

State senator and then attorney general of Vermont, JIM

worked on the most comprehensive State-level growth management policy in the United States. JIM continued these efforts as a U.S. Senator, and I joined with JIM in 1999 to form 

the Senate’s Smart Growth Task Force, a bipartisan, multiregional caucus. 

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With JIM’s leadership, the task force’s membership grew to 

more than 20 Senators who shared the goal of determining 

how the Federal Government can help States and localities 

address their own growth management issues. Out of this 

task force, a series of bipartisan legislative initiatives have 

emerged, including legislation to promote brownfields development, support urban and town centers, provide transportation funding and access, and conserve open space and historic structures. 

Senator JEFFORDS has also been a strong leader on education, job training, and disability legislation and served as 

chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

Committee from 1997 to June 2001. He has a particular passion for improving education for students with special needs 

and coauthored the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

Act. JIM JEFFORDS is also a strong advocate for fairness and 

has sponsored legislation to end discrimination based on sexual orientation and to strengthen penalties for hate crimes. 

Senator JEFFORDS became a household name and earned a 

spot in Senate history in 2001 when he left the Republican 

Party, creating a Democratic majority in the Senate. That 

action stunned Washington. But for those of us who have 

been fortunate to know him over the years, we were not at 

all surprised that JIM JEFFORDS had followed his conscience 

and his deep commitment to the interests of the people of 

Vermont and did what he believed to be right. 

I want to wish JIM and his wife Elizabeth well as they 

enter a new phase in their lives. 

Ms. SNOWE. . . . Mr. President, I rise to express my enormous gratitude and deep appreciation for my good friend and 

colleague, Senator JIM JEFFORDS. President John Adams, 

who served as the first President of this body, once exclaimed. ‘‘If we do not lay out ourselves in the service of 

mankind whom should we serve?’’ The answer given through 

the years by Senator JIM JEFFORDS has been one marked by 

the eloquence of his actions. 

True Yankee independence and integrity are two of the 

hallmarks distinguishing Senator JIM JEFFORDS. Our legislative service together dates back to the 97th Congress and our 

participation together on the House Aging Committee, ironically at much younger ages than we are today. We have also 

served together on the Senate Finance Committee. I will forever fondly remember the monthly Moderates lunches we attended together, just as I will cherish the lunch we shared 

in the final days of his distinguished tenure in the Senate. 

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Indeed, so many achievements distinguish this public servant and usher him into a prestigious pantheon of officeholders whose common denominator is uncommon commitment to addressing tough issues that truly affect the daily 

lives of the people whom they represent. 

Educated at Yale University and Harvard Law School, this 

son of a former chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court 

could have pursued any number of pathways in his life, but 

it testifies to his strength of character and abundance of integrity that he chose to use his depth of learning, prodigious 

skill, and expertise on behalf of others with the goal of service—a journey that began with his active duty in the U.S. 

Navy in 1956 and that continued throughout his 32 years in 

the Congress. From his days in the U.S. House in the mid1970s—where he also served with my husband John McKernan—to the present, Senator JEFFORDS made a priority to 

champion education and the environment and by doing so 

became one of the best advocates these issues have ever had. 

In 1975, Senator JEFFORDS, as the ranking member on the 

Subcommittee on Select Education, coauthored what would 

later be known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which has provided equal access to education for 

millions of students with disabilities. Since its enactment, 

Senator JEFFORDS has continued to fight for full Federal 

funding for the law. He has fought to reduce industrial pollution and acid rain, and as a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee he ensured the passage 

of the 1990 Clean Air Act. More recently, Senator JEFFORDS

has introduced legislation that would clean up polluting powerplants and create incentives for investments in clean, renewable power. 

In 2001, during the tax-cut debate, as we were working to 

ensure a fair but a fiscally-responsible compromise, Senator 

JEFFORDS and I combined to advocate for significant relief 

for the working poor. In 2003, during intense negotiations, 

we joined forces to ensure prescription drug benefits for 

Medicare. And I could not have been more pleased to work 

with him in authoring the so-called Snowe-Jeffords provision 

to the historic Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. I couldn’t 

be more proud that our arguments were not only persuasive 

in the Senate but ultimately before the U.S. Supreme Court 

after more than 3 hours of oral arguments, as the act—including our provision—was upheld. 

In the true spirit of statecraft, JIM JEFFORDS has ennobled 

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nent of art. Then-Congressman JEFFORDS cofounded the Congressional Arts Caucus and has consistently fought for financial support of the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for 

Museum and Library Services. Like my State’s own Margaret Chase Smith, Senator JEFFORDS has been a public 

servant of deep and abiding conscience, buttressed by a profound courage and unwavering love for his State and his 

country. I wish him all the best. 

Mrs. HUTCHISON. . . . Mr. President, today we say goodbye to Senator JIM JEFFORDS after 18 years in the Senate, 

serving the State of Vermont. 

Throughout his years in the Senate, Senator JEFFORDS has 

remained steadfast in his convictions and beliefs. 

As a proud citizen of the State of Vermont, Senator JEFFORDS has made enormous efforts to ensure the interests of 

his State were represented in the U.S. Congress. 

This is the legacy Senator JEFFORDS has earned. 

As a staunch proponent of environmental issues, Senator 

JEFFORDS rose to leadership as chairman of the Environment 

and Public Works Committee in 2001, and he currently 

serves as the committee’s ranking member. 

Senator JEFFORDS leaves the Senate with my respect. . . . 

UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT—TRIBUTES TO RETIRING 

SENATORS 

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the tributes to 

retiring Senators be printed as a Senate document and that 

Senators be permitted to submit tributes until December 27, 

2006. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

WEDNESDAY, December 27, 2006 

Mr. STEVENS. . . . Mr. President, Senator JIM JEFFORDS’s 

service has been unique but no doubt beneficial to his home 

State of Vermont and to our country. On May 21, 2001, Senator JEFFORDS pursued his conscience and made a difficult 

decision to leave our party. While unexpected, I respect Senator JEFFORDS for following his heart and doing what he 

thought was best for his constituents in Vermont. 

JIM has now served three full terms in the Senate. Over 

the years, he has stood out as a champion for education and 

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the disabled. In 2004, he co-authored the Individuals with 

Disabilities Education Act. His work here has helped improve millions of lives. 

I wish the distinguished gentleman from Vermont well in 

his future endeavors. . . . 

Mr. AKAKA. . . . At this time, Mr. President, I would like 

to take the opportunity to wish my warmest aloha to Senator 

JIM JEFFORDS, who is retiring after 32 years in Congress. 

The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs will be losing one of its 

finest and most esteemed members. A veteran himself, Senator JEFFORDS has been a strong voice and advocate for veterans. I thank Senator JEFFORDS for his service. He will 

truly be missed. . . . 

Æ