TRIBUTES TO HON. TRENT LOTT 

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Trent Lott 

U.S. SENATOR FROM MISSISSIPPI 

TRIBUTES 

IN THE CONGRESS OF 

THE UNITED STATES 

UNUM

E PLURIBUS


congress.#15
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Trent Lott 


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U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 2009

S. DOC. 110–13 

Tributes 

Delivered in Congress 

Trent Lott 

United States Congressman 

1973–1989 

United States Senator 

1989–2007 

÷ 

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Compiled under the direction 

of the 

Joint Committee on Printing 

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[ iii ] 

CONTENTS 

Page 

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

Letter of Resignation ................................................................................ viii 

Farewell to the Senate ............................................................................. ix 

Proceedings in the Senate: 

Tributes by Senators: 

Alexander, Lamar, of Tennessee ............................................... 34 

Allard, Wayne, of Colorado ........................................................ 39 

Barrasso, John, of Wyoming ..................................................... 73 

Bennett, Robert F., of Utah ....................................................... 32 

Bond, Christopher S., of Missouri ............................................. 72 

Boxer, Barbara, of California .................................................... 82 

Brownback, Sam, of Kansas ...................................................... 75 

Bunning, Jim, of Kentucky ....................................................... 54 

Burr, Richard, of North Carolina .............................................. 56 

Byrd, Robert C., of West Virginia ............................................. 78 

Casey, Robert P., Jr., of Pennsylvania ..................................... 85 

Chambliss, Saxby, of Georgia ................................................... 41 

Coburn, Tom, of Oklahoma ....................................................... 86 

Cochran, Thad, of Mississippi ................................................... 12 

Coleman, Norm, of Minnesota .................................................. 47 

Collins, Susan M., of Maine ...................................................... 64 

Conrad, Kent, of North Dakota ................................................. 85 

Corker, Bob, of Tennessee ......................................................... 87 

Cornyn, John, of Texas .............................................................. 38 

Craig, Larry E., of Idaho ........................................................... 69 

Crapo, Mike, of Idaho ................................................................ 55 

Dodd, Christopher J., of Connecticut ....................................... 87 

Dole, Elizabeth, of North Carolina ........................................... 15 

Domenici, Pete V., of New Mexico ............................................ 51 

Durbin, Richard, of Illinois ........................................................ 14 

Ensign, John, of Nevada ............................................................ 56 

Enzi, Michael B., of Wyoming ................................................... 59 

Feingold, Russell D., of Wisconsin ............................................ 61 

Feinstein, Dianne, of California ................................................ 21 

Graham, Lindsey, of South Carolina ........................................ 91 

Grassley, Chuck, of Iowa ........................................................... 26 

Gregg, Judd, of New Hampshire ............................................... 66 

Hagel, Chuck, of Nebraska ........................................................ 71 

Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah ........................................................... 17 

Hutchison, Kay Bailey, of Texas ............................................... 61 

Inhofe, James M., of Oklahoma ................................................ 74 

Isakson, Johnny, of Georgia ...................................................... 46 

Kyl, Jon, of Arizona ................................................................... 19 

Leahy, Patrick J., of Vermont ................................................... 36 

Lieberman, Joseph I., of Connecticut ....................................... 65 

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Page 

Proceedings in the Senate:—Continued 

Tributes by Senators—Continued 

Lugar, Richard G., of Indiana ................................................... 89 

Martinez, Mel, of Florida ........................................................... 50 

McCaskill, Claire, of Missouri ................................................... 82 

McConnell, Mitch, of Kentucky ................................................. 5, 6 

Murkowski, Lisa, of Alaska ....................................................... 83 

Nelson, Bill, of Florida ............................................................... 3 

Pryor, Mark L., of Arkansas ..................................................... 83 

Reid, Harry, of Nevada .............................................................. 3, 5 

Sessions, Jeff, of Alabama ......................................................... 43 

Smith, Gordon H., of Oregon ..................................................... 13 

Snowe, Olympia J., of Maine .................................................... 28 

Specter, Arlen, of Pennsylvania ................................................ 21 

Stabenow, Debbie, of Michigan ................................................. 31 

Stevens, Ted, of Alaska ............................................................. 81 

Sununu, John E., of New Hampshire ....................................... 90 

Thune, John, of South Dakota .................................................. 76 

Vitter, David, of Louisiana ........................................................ 40 

Warner, John, of Virginia .......................................................... 49 

Proceedings in the House of Representatives: 

Tributes by Representatives: 

Barton, Joe, of Texas ................................................................. 93 

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BIOGRAPHY 

TRENT LOTT served for three decades in the U.S. Congress 

on behalf of the people of the State of Mississippi. A champion of a strong national defense, he remained dedicated to 

encouraging economic growth and protecting Americans’ economic security by getting government off their backs and out 

of their pocketbooks. 

Seven Presidents have known both his cooperation and his 

opposition, for he kept Mississippi and his country ahead of 

partisan and personal concerns. 

As the House Republican whip in 1981, he forged the bipartisan alliance that enacted President Ronald Reagan’s 

economic recovery program and his national security initiatives. Part of the reason for this and other victories was Congressman LOTT’s creation of the House of Representative’s 

first modern whip organization, focusing on regular Memberto-Member contacts and extensive outreach to sympathetic 

Democrats. Counting votes, building coalitions, and moving 

legislation were things he seemed born to do, and he genuinely enjoyed the process. 

Elected to the Senate in 1988, he was a member of the 

group of pro-growth stalwarts who opposed the tax increase 

forced on President Bush in 1990. When he became the Senate’s 16th majority leader in 1996, he again put his coalitionbuilding skills to the test and, along with House Speaker 

Newt Gingrich, enacted the historic welfare reform bill of 

1996. 

The next year, LOTT, Gingrich, Congressional Budget Committee chairmen John Kasich, and Pete Domenici together 

produced a historic budget and tax cut agreement that limited some Federal spending. But more important, it created 

new incentives to save and invest, thereby stimulating the 

economic growth that brought the Federal budget into balance for the first time since 1968. 

As the Republican leader during the first 2 years of President George W. Bush’s administration, Senator LOTT led the 

fight for passage of the President’s tax cut package, the 

President’s landmark education reform bill, the largest increase in defense spending since the cold war, the most sigVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:02 May 15, 2009 Jkt 040534 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\LOTT\40534.TXT CRS2 PsN: SKAYNE
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[ vi ] 

nificant trade legislation in a decade, and the resolution supporting the President on military action in Iraq. 

During the Senate’s lame duck session of November 2002, 

Senator LOTT, drawing on his experience as a legislative negotiator, reached the compromises that created the Department of Homeland Security. 

For 16 years in the House of Representatives and 14 years 

in the Senate, TRENT LOTT was a driving force behind America’s military success. He was instrumental in bolstering 

America’s military recruitment, retention, and overall readiness. In 1998 he led the charge for the first pay raise in a 

decade for military men and women. His leadership led to 

the development for the 21st century of a new generation of 

Navy vessels to maintain America’s pre-eminence at sea. 

He worked with the Pentagon to advance Mississippi’s 

prowess in shipbuilding and weapons construction as well as 

the State’s strategic location for its numerous military installations. 

In 1998, as the Senate’s majority leader, he led a Senate 

delegation to visit the leaders of Poland, Hungary, and the 

Czech Republic and thereafter led the Senate to ratify 

NATO’s expansion to those nations. 

Senator LOTT’s top priorities for the State of Mississippi 

were its schools and its transportation system. His success in 

securing major transportation projects like Interstate 69— 

which will traverse the less developed Mississippi Delta— 

and in doubling Federal research funding for Mississippi’s 

public universities has enabled a new generation of Mississippians to build a brighter future. He was particularly 

supportive of university research programs that can both enhance the academic curriculum and help create new private 

industries within Mississippi. One example is the remote 

sensing research program that is feeding information gathered by space satellites to military, commercial, and agricultural interests. 

Senator LOTT’s focus on economic development and job creation was instrumental to Nissan Motor Company’s selection 

of Canton, MS, for its new $1 billion automotive manufacturing facility. This will bring 6,000 manufacturing jobs at 

the plant and an estimated 30,000 jobs for suppliers around 

the State. Senator LOTT also convinced Lockheed Martin to 

place a state-of-the-art space satellite manufacturing facility 

at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, MS, 

providing over 500 high-tech jobs at one of the Nation’s most 

promising space-related installations. 

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In the 108th Congress Senator LOTT chaired the Aviation 

Subcommittee within the Committee on Commerce, Science 

and Transportation, which oversees the security and stability 

of the Nation’s aviation industry. He also chaired the powerful Rules Committee. He was a member of the Finance Committee, which oversees tax and health care policy, and served 

on the Select Committee on Intelligence. 

Born on October 9, 1941, the only child of Chester and 

Iona Lott, in the little town of Grenada, MS, TRENT LOTT’s 

early years were shaped by the no-nonsense values of hardworking parents in hard-working times. More than once, his 

family moved to take advantage of a job opportunity and a 

chance at a better life. He grew up in a home where frugality 

countered economic uncertainty and where personal advancement had to be based on personal achievement. 

When his family set down roots in the port city of 

Pascagoula, where his father was a pipefitter and his mother 

taught elementary grades, TRENT LOTT attended a public 

school that would later bear his name. He received his bachelor of science in public administration in 1963 and his juris 

doctorate in 1967 from the University of Mississippi in Oxford. 

He is married to Patricia (Tricia) Thompson Lott, his college sweetheart. They have two children—Chester Trent 

Lott, Jr. and Tyler Lott Armstrong—and have been blessed 

with three grandchildren, Chester Trent Lott III, Lucie Sims 

Lott and Shields Elizabeth Armstrong. 

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Letter of Resignation 

Tuesday, December 18, 2007 

December 18, 2007. 

Hon. RICHARD B. CHENEY, 

President of the United States Senate, 

Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: I hereby give notice of my retirement from the Office of United States Senator from the State of Mississippi. Therefore, I tender my resignation effective at 11:30 p.m., December 18, 2007. 

Respectfully submitted, 

TRENT LOTT, 

United States Senate. 

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Farewell to the Senate 

Tuesday, December 18, 2008 

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I can’t help but feel honored and 

humbled by all that has been said here. My mother would 

have loved it and would have believed it all. 

I feel totally inadequate to properly respond to much of 

what has been said. I thank my colleagues one and all, and, 

of course, the venerable symbol of this institution, Senator 

Byrd, and his comments, ending as he always does with 

magnificent quotes, from memory. So maybe it is appropriate 

that I would begin briefly by telling some of my experiences 

with Senator Byrd. 

When you enter my son’s home in Kentucky, on the wall, 

framed, is a tribute he gave to my first grandchild—a grandson—the week he was born. I was majority leader and came 

on the floor that Friday, and he asked me if I would be 

around for a few minutes; he had something he would like 

to say. It was truly one of the most beautiful things I had 

ever heard in my life. Maybe it was because I thought my 

grandson was the most beautiful I had ever seen, but it was 

so magnificent, and he ended with a quote of how a grandfather wants his grandson to remember him. So it hangs 

there in a place of great pride. ‘‘Chester Trent Lott, III’’ is 

the title. 

Senator Byrd and I have worked together, and of course 

we have disagreed. There have been magic moments. I remember when I was involved in our little singing group, he 

came on the floor one day and asked me if I had a little time; 

he had something he would like to show me. So he went 

down to his office and he showed me a video of himself at 

the Grand Ole Opry playing great fiddle. So we were bonded 

by music, by heritage, by faith, and in so many ways. 

I could tell a story about certainly each one of these colleagues here and a lot on the other side and how I have enjoyed being here and have enjoyed my work, and a lot of it 

has been on a personal, one-to-one basis. Sometimes, when 

I really, really cared about something, on a personal basis, 

for my State or for the Senate or our country, I would go to 

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that Senator’s office. I remember one time it took me quite 

some time to track down Pat Roberts, because he was hiding 

from me, but I found him. 

I remember one time I needed a vote, and I needed some 

votes on the Democratic side. So the simple thing I have always thought is, you know, go where the ducks are. If you 

are looking for votes, you have to go talk to them, you have 

to pursue those votes. So I went to Senator Byrd’s office. As 

always, he graciously welcomed me into the inner sanctum. 

I think I smelled a cigar, which delighted me, and I sat 

down, and he listened to me as I made my pitch. I talked 

about the attributes of this nominee for a very important position and why it was so important, I thought, to the institution and why it was important to me and my State. He listened, he asked a couple of questions, and asked me to repeat the name. 

At the end, he said: ‘‘Well, I think everything will be OK.’’ 

He didn’t say: ‘‘I will vote for him.’’ He just said: ‘‘I think everything will be OK.’’ I figured it was good enough and time 

for me to take my leave, and I did. I talked to my senior colleague, Senator Cochran, and said: ‘‘What does that mean? 

He said: ‘I think it will be OK.’ ’’ 

So the vote came, and it was OK. He was one of a number 

of Democrats who did vote for that confirmation. It was just 

sort of the epitome of Senator Byrd. I respect him as a great 

Senator, I respect him because of the way he loves this institution, and I respect him as a friend. 

I take occasion, when I am in the Senate, sometimes when 

I am leaving, to go over and say: ‘‘How are you doing, Senator Byrd?’’ Because I know how he felt about Erma, I know 

how he loved Billie, and he has so many things that appeal 

to me and that make him a great man. I single him out now 

because of the beautiful remarks he just made and because 

really he is emblematic of the relationships I have had with 

so many of my colleagues here. 

I guess, to tell you the truth, I really was kind of hesitant 

about this moment and about being here today and what you 

would say, but it all sounded so good, now I am thinking of 

changing my mind and maybe announcing for President or 

something. 

But to our leaders, Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader—he and I did work together on many occasions and without a lot of fanfare. I remember we would bring up a bill, 

and 100 amendments would always appear. I got to thinking 

it was the same 100, but then he and I would go to work, 

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with me in the leadership of my party and he as the whip 

on his side, working with Senator Daschle, and we managed 

to get it done over and over again. We established a relationship of trust and honesty with each other that is so critical. 

I think he has the toughest job in the whole city, being the 

majority leader in the Senate, and not just because I had it 

but because I got to see what it was all about. The President 

has the whole administration, the Speaker has the Rules 

Committee, but the leaders of the Senate, on both sides of 

the aisle, they lead because of who they are and the power 

of persuasion they have and the respect for the position they 

hold. Nothing in the Constitution gives them special powers. 

So I appreciate what Harry Reid has said. He has been a 

friend, he has been a supporter, he has offered me encouragement when I was down and when I was up. He has been 

very generous and magnanimous in what he has had to say, 

and I admire him. I wish him only the best because when 

he succeeds in working and making this institution work and 

produce a result, most of the time the country succeeds. 

To our Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, you knew just 

a little bit too much about my background, all these personal 

references, but I appreciate it. It means so much to me. You 

have been a great friend. We have been in the leadership together, we have kept our word to each other, we have been 

supportive of each other in tough times and good. I really enjoyed having you work with me in the leadership when I was 

leader, and I have been so honored and thrilled to be a part 

of your leadership team. 

I told you that I knew what your job was and I knew what 

the whip job was, and I would be your whip and I would support you. And I want the Record to show here, and for one 

and all, I think you have been a magnificent leader for our 

party this year. It has not been easy. It has been tough. Both 

of you are going to get criticized, but I have been riding shotgun for you, and it has been a great pleasure, my friend. You 

have done a magnificent job for our party. 

I have to recognize our most senior Republican, too, Senator Stevens. He told me yesterday he didn’t like my nickname for him, so I am working on a more appropriate one 

for him, but he has been a good and loyal friend too. When 

I was a whip in the House and he was a whip here in the 

Senate, he took me under his wing, even took me on some 

flights with him. But I admire you so much, Senator Stevens. 

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And I have to say to my colleague from Mississippi, it has 

been quite a ride—35 years—but we have enjoyed each other’s company. No matter how tough things get, we could always sit down and talk about Ole Miss. I really thought I 

would be the head coach this year, but that didn’t work out. 

But the thing I will always say about Senator Cochran, and 

typically of him, after Katrina, which was a seminal event in 

my life, obviously in the lives of my families and neighbors 

and friends, and my State, we had so many needs, and Senator Cochran immediately went to work and produced appropriations—more than one—and he got everything we needed. 

He didn’t jump up and down and brag about it. 

He helped not only my State but, as Senator Vitter said, 

Louisiana and the entire gulf region, and here is what really 

impressed me about it. We all took credit for what he did— 

I did, our Governor did, our mayors did—and he sat there 

quietly in the second row in Biloxi, MS, on the 1-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and public official after public 

official got up and took deep bows for what they had done. 

Finally, I had all I could stand, and I got up and said: ‘‘I am 

glad we all got to take credit. Now it is time we recognize 

the man on the second row who actually did it.’’ I will forever 

be grateful for what you did after Hurricane Katrina, which 

was obviously a very tough event. 

To my staff, who are lined up back here—I have a great 

team. Typically, Senate staffers do so much of the work and 

we take the credit, but I have been blessed with super staff 

this year, and there are some former staff members in the 

balcony. I have a rule in my office that once you work for 

TRENT LOTT, you always work for TRENT LOTT, no matter 

who pays your salary, and, you know, it seems to work. I 

never let them go. They are always on call and they are always there, and I thank you all for that. 

I want to do something, too, that I have done before. We 

don’t do enough to thank our entire Senate family, everybody 

from the elevator operators to our policemen and the people 

here. I think the staff of the Senate here on the floor appreciates it. I have always tried to think about you too. One of 

my speeches about the sun is setting, isn’t it time to go 

home—as most of you know, I was serious when I said I 

wanted to go home and have supper with my wife Trish, and 

on occasion, I did it and didn’t come back either. 

But to all of the staff: Thank you. You have helped in so 

many ways. Our leaders on the staff—I think of Elizabeth 

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Letchworth, Dave Chiappa, and Marty. They just do great 

jobs, and so I want to express my appreciation to them. 

To my State of Mississippi, they have shown me a lot of 

leniency. They have honored me, and they have put up with 

me sometimes, and it has been quite a pleasure to represent 

that State. I love it, always will, and will always be working 

for the State. 

But especially to my wife Tricia and our two children, Chet 

and Tyler, and now our four grandchildren, they have been 

very supportive, and they have always stood by me. My wife 

has been a lot more than a wife and mother, she has been 

a real helpmate. I thank them for all they have done. 

I do want to say again to the Senate itself, I have learned 

to love the institution. Senator Byrd occasionally accused me 

of trying to make the Senate into a mini-House, and I have 

denied it, but maybe I was, in my desire for order and neatness. The messiness of the Senate sometimes was hard for 

me to take. 

But I love this place, and I was thinking about it today— 

the friendships. They are real here, but they don’t go away. 

Some of our colleagues have gone before us whom I have 

dearly loved as friends and not just colleagues, people such 

as Connie Mack, Dan Coats, Phil Gramm, and Paul Coverdell was mentioned. These are friendships which will last 

forever. 

Dianne Feinstein. One of my regrets in deciding to retire 

is that now we have sort of formed a team, and I think 

maybe she is a little peeved at me that she took a stand with 

me after I took a stand with her, and now I am going to the 

house. But this is a great Senator, and she is a symbol of 

what I hope the Senate will remember to do, and that is to 

really go the extra mile to be a friend and to have a personal 

relationship. 

She took on the Seersucker Thursday. When we lost everything, she was the one who made sure my wife had some 

glasses for us to drink out of. She didn’t do it for publicity, 

and I never talked about it publicly, but it was a very special 

gesture. I thank my colleagues for letting me be in the leadership. Thanks to my colleagues and the American people for 

allowing me to have some fun while being in the Senate. I 

commend it to you, for the future. I didn’t form the Singing 

Senators, the quartet, just because I like to sing bass or because I enjoyed music, but because I wanted to show that 

side of the Senate. Could the Senate really have soul? Could 

the Senate really have music in its heart? As bad as we 

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sounded, there was method in my madness. I also thought 

it would lead me to find ways to get one of our Senators to 

vote with us more. I think it got one more vote than we 

would have otherwise. 

But the kilts—you know, just being a little looser I think 

is a good idea every now and then. I believe whatever you 

do in your life you should find a way to enjoy it and have 

fun. I have to say I have had fun in the Senate because I 

really enjoyed it. That is all there is to it. But I tried to find 

a way to do some things that made us closer as friends. 

I am glad we recorded some history with the Leaders Lecture Series. I urge my colleagues to restart that, bring in experts to talk to us, men and women who led the Senate, who 

led the country, who know the history of our country and the 

history of this institution, and give us some opportunity to 

have an intellectual discussion about what the Senate is, 

what it has been, and what it can be. 

I do hope we will always find a way to be just a little bit 

family friendly. Remember, we all have families at home, 

back in our States. Our leaders sometimes could give us a 

little reward; if we would behave and allow them to get to 

a vote quicker, maybe we could get home to our families a 

little quicker. 

Senator Byrd mentioned the fact that I have been on 

mountaintops and down in the valleys. I thought many times 

about my high school class motto. As class president—we 

had a class flower, we had a class color, we had a class song, 

we had a class everything. We had a class motto that has 

lived with me since those years at Pascagoula High School 

in 1959. Our class motto was: The glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time you fail. I have had opportunities to fail, and I have had opportunities to persevere, as the 

people I represent. It has been a great motto, one I have 

learned to live by. 

I am not going to give a long speech today. I quoted a 

great philosopher about how you should speak on occasions 

such as this. He said: ‘‘You should speak low, you should 

speak slow, and you should be brief.’’ John Wayne. I am 

going to try to honor that. I am not going to give you a list 

of achievements because I have been so pleased with what 

my colleagues have had to say. But among the things I really 

am proud that we have done in my years in the Senate: We 

have built our military, we have made it stronger, we gave 

them better pay, we gave them better retirement benefits. I 

will always be proud of that. We had tax cuts, tax reform, 

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[ xv ] 

and strengthened the economy, even things such as safe 

drinking water. I had communities in my State that literally 

couldn’t drink water out of the faucets. We have improved on 

that. We had insurance affordability, welfare reform, transportation. 

When I announced my retirement a couple of weeks ago, 

one reporter asked about what was I most proud of. I said: 

To tell you the truth, I am not the kind of guy who sits 

around meditating on what I am going to put on a marker 

somewhere. I am proud of all of it. But I think I am the most 

proud of the effort we had with colleagues on both sides of 

the aisle, working very closely with Senator Domenici and 

Senator Grassley and others. So in my 61⁄2 years as majority 

leader we have had balanced budgets, four, and surpluses 

two of those four. It hasn’t happened since 1968, and we are 

kind of struggling again. That is something we need to do. 

Fiscal responsibility is a very important part of what we can 

do for our children and our grandchildren. I hope we will 

find a way to do that again in the future. 

I have one regret. I guess I was part of the problem along 

the way. The one thing I always hoped we could get done for 

our children and our grandchildren we have not been able to 

do, and that is to find a way to preserve, protect, and ensure 

that Social Security will be there for our children and grandchildren in the way that it is here for us now. I hope we will 

find a way before it is too late to get that done. 

With regard to recommendations, I have no anger, complaints, I have nothing but hope and joy in my heart for the 

future. I am so appreciative of the way the Senate and the 

Congress and the American people stepped up and helped us 

after Hurricane Katrina. But if there were just two things I 

would like to urge the Senate to do—I have touched on them, 

but I repeat them now—first, find a way to make sure Senators have a life and have some time with their families. 

When you lose that, you have lost an important part of those 

pillars that make us who we are—family and friends, faith 

and freedom. You have to make sure you pay close attention 

to that and learn to know each other and know each other’s 

families. It will make us better people. 

Then, last, find a way to keep the human side. It has been 

hard for me, with my Scottish roots, to tell people when I 

really do appreciate them and love them; to call people when 

they are celebrating and call them when they are hurting. 

But when I hurt, myself, I know how much it has meant to 

me to have some of you call and offer your support and your 

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[ xvi ] 

encouragement. Find a way to do that. It is more important 

than anything else that happens in the Senate. Keep that 

personal, human touch. 

Always find a way to disagree if you have to, but don’t be 

disagreeable. There has come sort of a meanness, sometimes, 

that I do not think is befitting of the institution. I hope we 

will find a way to stay away from that. 

Again, I repeat something I said a moment ago. This 

morning when I was doing my morning Bible devotional, the 

message that came through to me was one of hope and joy 

for the future. I look forward to my opportunities after the 

Senate. I am not going to say a fond farewell because I am 

not leaving. I will not be here, but my heart will be with you 

and I will be watching and I will stay in touch for the rest 

of my life. 

Thank you so much for being able to serve with you. I 

thank you all for what you have had to say today. I do have 

a quick card in my topic. I do want to talk to you about some 

folks who will be coming up later this week. Thank you very 

much. God bless this institution. 

(Applause, Senators rising.) 

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TRIBUTES 

TO 

TRENT LOTT 

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[ 3 ] 

Proceedings in the Senate 

MONDAY, December 3, 2007 

Mr. NELSON of Florida. . . . I will conclude on a completely 

different topic. I must say with absolute frankness that I 

was saddened when I heard that the Senator from Mississippi, Mr. LOTT, was going to resign. I think he is one of 

the most delightful of all the Members of this body, in a legislative body of some exceptionally talented and engaging 

people. We have seen Senator Lott use his legislative prowess, often in a bipartisan way, to bring about the consensus 

in order to get things done and to move the legislative process along, which is so necessary and, as the Good Book says: 

For us to come and reason together. 

He has been a legislative master who got along so well as 

the majority leader with Senator Daschle, the minority leader, and then, because of the turn of events in 2001, for Senator LOTT, the minority leader, to get along with Senator 

Daschle, the majority leader, so they could move the business of the Senate along. 

He is a personal friend. I have had the privilege of going 

to the University of Mississippi to speak on a forum at the 

Trent Lott Institute at that great university. And for this 

Senator, he will be very much missed in the Senate. We wish 

him and Tricia and all his family Godspeed. 

I yield the floor. 

TUESDAY, December 4, 2007 

Mr. REID. Mr. President, during my time in public office, 

I have had the opportunity to serve with many good men and 

women. During my time serving in Congress, I have had the 

opportunity to form a friendship with TRENT LOTT. 

Senator Daschle gave me the freedom, during the 6 years 

I was assistant leader and he was the leader, to spend all 

my time on the Senate floor, and I did that. Senator Daschle 

did other things, but he trusted me. I hope I did the right 

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thing—I sure tried to do that all the time I worked with 

him—but I lived on the floor of the Senate. 

During much of that time TRENT LOTT was the Republican 

leader, and we worked together over those years, I think, in 

a way that speaks well of our country. We made deals. Legislation is the art of compromise, consensus building. Even 

though TRENT LOTT is certainly a true conservative, we were 

able, in his pragmatic fashion, to work things out. 

TRENT has an interesting background. He was born in Mississippi. His family settled in a place called Pascagoula. His 

father was a pipefitter. His mother taught school. She was 

an elementary school teacher. The public school that Senator 

LOTT attended now bears his name. He received a degree 

from the University of Mississippi and also got his law degree from the same institution. That is a wonderful community, Oxford, MS. I have had an opportunity to spend a little 

bit of time there. There is a beautiful community square. It 

is like I envision the South as it used to be. 

He married a beautiful woman, Tricia—Tricia Thompson 

Lott. They were college sweethearts. My wife, who is a shy 

woman—always has been—has worked with Tricia on a 

number of different issues and has been so enamored of her, 

with what a wonderful woman Tricia is. She is a hard worker. Whenever projects are involved, she does more than her 

share. 

They have two children, Chet and Tyler. They have four 

grandchildren. 

TRENT has been in Congress 35 years. He is the only person in the history of this country who has served as both the 

House and the Senate whip. He has been a champion for 

Mississippi, as we all know, but he has also been an important instrument in the Senate accomplishing what it has 

during the time he was here. I am disappointed that Senator 

LOTT is going to be leaving the Senate, and I will miss him. 

I have been impressed with his ability to get things done. 

Other than John Breaux and TRENT LOTT, there are no two 

people able to accomplish as much as they did. John Breaux 

was a dealmaker, and the place he always went, as a Democrat, to start his deal, was with TRENT LOTT. They developed 

a friendship that lasts to this day. As a result of their ability 

to work together on different sides of the aisle, we were able 

to accomplish a great deal. During the Clinton years, much 

of what Senator Breaux was able to accomplish for President 

Clinton was as a result of his relationship with Senator 

LOTT. 

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There is no need for me to dwell on my friendship with 

Senator LOTT other than to say he is my friend, I wish him 

well, and certainly I wish Tricia and TRENT and their family 

the very best. They deserve it. 

Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, we will, indeed, be saying goodbye to our friend and colleague, TRENT LOTT, over 

the next few weeks. Senator Reid and I will work out a time 

certain for tributes to Senator LOTT and his extraordinary 

career sometime between now and the end of this session. . . . 

TUESDAY, December 18, 2007 

Mr. REID. Madam President, I have publicly stated my 

feelings about TRENT LOTT on a number of occasions since he 

indicated he was going to retire by the end of this year. We 

had a lovely reception for him in the Mansfield Room. Other 

people have their own views as to the strengths of TRENT

LOTT, but having worked with him here on the Senate floor 

for these many years, his greatest attribute can best be summarized by the statesman Edmund Burke: ‘‘All government 

. . . every virtue and every prudent act—is founded on compromise . . . 

That is not negative. That is positive. Compromise is 

something we as legislators must do. Legislation is the art 

of compromise. That is what we have been taught, and that 

is the way it is. There is no better example of that than what 

we have before us now or should have in a short time from 

the House, the omnibus spending bill. That has been the 

epitome of compromise by legislators and by the White 

House as the executive. That is what TRENT LOTT did best, 

approaching a difficult issue, trying to figure a way out of it. 

No one who has ever legislated and gotten a bill passed with 

their name on it has had what they really started out to do. 

We all must compromise. That is a negative term in some 

people’s minds, but it really isn’t if you are a legislator. 

The special skill TRENT LOTT has, the special kind of understanding and pursuit of the common good, requires us to 

find common ground. TRENT LOTT embodies that skill. He is 

a true legislator. In all my dealings with TRENT LOTT, he is 

a gentleman. I have never, ever had Senator LOTT say something to me that he was not able to carry through on. His 

commitments are as good as gold. 

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We have had some jokes here about his dealings with John 

Breaux. They have a lot of qualities, but their qualities were 

the ability to make deals. When we needed something done 

during the Daschle years, the first person we went to was 

John Breaux. I am confident the first person he went to was 

TRENT LOTT. They have been close personal friends for all 

these years. As a result of their friendship, their trust of one 

another, it kind of spilled off on the rest of us, and we were 

able to get a lot of work done. 

It goes without saying that we disagree on policy often, 

Senator LOTT and I, but with TRENT, these disagreements 

never seemed to be that important because he was always 

able to approach these challenges with a genuine desire to 

find a solution. 

The history books will be written about this institution. I 

am confident they will be written about the State of Mississippi. There will be chapters that will have to be dedicated 

to TRENT LOTT because he has been part of the history of the 

State of Mississippi and of this institution and the House of 

Representatives. No one has ever, in the history of our country, some 230 years, served as the House whip and the Senate whip, but TRENT LOTT has. I believe he has made our 

country more secure in many ways. When we talk about security, it doesn’t mean necessarily the military because our 

security depends on a lot more. 

Senator LOTT, I wish you and your wonderful wife and 

your family the very best. I believe my dealings with you 

have made me a better person and a better Senator. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The minority 

leader is recognized. 

Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, after the news of 

TRENT’s retirement had spread, a young farmer in Jackson 

had this to say about the man he had called ‘‘Senator’’ most 

of his life: ‘‘He’s a good person to represent the State, caring 

for people like he does.’’ That farmer had it exactly right because whether TRENT was making sure an old man in 

Pascagoula got his Social Security check or ducking into a 

kitchen in Tunica to thank the cooks after a political event, 

no service was too small, no task too insignificant when it 

came to serving the people of Mississippi. 

One time, when TRENT was a young Congressman, a constituent called his office to have his trash removed. When 

TRENT asked why he hadn’t called the town supervisor first, 

the man replied that he didn’t want to start that high. 

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Nobody ever saw TRENT LOTT as a Congressman or a Senator. To them, he was just TRENT. As he vowed last month, 

that commitment to the people of Mississippi does not end 

here. ‘‘I will work hard for the State, the last day I am in 

the Senate,’’ he said, ‘‘and I will work hard for this State 

until the last day I am alive.’’ 

In a plaque on his office wall, visitors will find TRENT’s 

rules. The most important one he always said was this: You 

can never have a national view if you forget the view from 

Pascagoula. 

He never forgot his roots. TRENT dined with Presidents, 

yet he still remembers facing the winters of his childhood 

without indoor heat. He also remembers his first hot shower. 

And he never forgot the source of that luxury. ‘‘It came from 

hard work,’’ his mother said. He would spend a lifetime proving that he took her words to heart. 

The love of politics came early, thanks in part to some lively debates with his folks around the dinner table. They always treated him with respect—‘‘as an equal,’’ he said—and 

they watched with pride as he threw himself into his studies 

and everything else that was available to a blue-collar kid 

growing up along the gulf coast in 1950s America. 

TRENT was an early standout. His high school classmates 

voted him class president, most likely to succeed, most popular, a model of Christian conduct, most polite, and, of 

course, neatest. One friend recalls that TRENT was the only 

guy he ever knew who tidied up his bed before going to sleep 

at night. 

Of course, TRENT’s reputation for neatness outlasted high 

school. It has been the source of a lot of jokes over the years. 

But some of those jokes really are not fair. It is not true, for 

example, that TRENT arranges his sock drawer according to 

color every day. He is perfectly content to do it once a 

week—black on one side, blue on the other. 

In college, the connection to Mississippi deepened. Surrounded by the white pillars and ancient oaks of Ole Miss, 

he formed lifelong friendships and grew in respect for the 

traditions of honor, integrity, duty, and service that had 

marked his beloved Sigma Nu from its beginnings. 

There was always something to do, and TRENT did it all: 

frat parties, swaps, campus politics, singing, leading the 

cheers at the football games, and, occasionally, even studying. One of TRENT’s college friends recalls that Mrs. 

Hutchinson’s sophomore literature class was TRENT’s Waterloo. 

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But after a less than impressive showing on her midterm 

exam, he refocused—and one of the things that came into 

view was a pretty young girl he had first met in high school 

band practice. One day TRENT told a fraternity brother he 

had met a girl he wanted to date. When he showed him 

Tricia’s picture, the friend said: ‘‘Yes, I think you should do 

that.’’ 

Then it was on to law school and marriage and private 

practice. Then, in the winter of 1968, a surprise phone call 

came that changed absolutely everything. It was TRENT’s 

Congressman, Bill Colmer. He wanted to know if TRENT

would be interested in a job as one of his staffers in Washington. 

It was a tough decision. TRENT had never thought of coming here, and the money was not good. But it seemed like a 

good opportunity. And, as TRENT says, he never made a 

choice in his life based on finances. So he took it. And Tricia 

was behind him all the way. That spring, they packed everything they could pack into their Pontiac and headed north. 

It was the first of many gambles that would pay off for 

TRENT LOTT. 

The new city and its temptations did not change the boy 

from Pascagoula. He put his energy and his people skills to 

work, learning the rules and customs of the House and cementing new friendships over a glass of Old Granddad and 

a cigar—always a cheap cigar—by night. 

The second big gamble came when Congressman Colmer 

decided to retire. TRENT wanted to run for his boss’s seat, 

but he would do it his way. Although more than 9 out of 10 

Fifth District voters were Democrats, TRENT decided he 

would run as a Republican. 

It was the hardest race of his life, but TRENT loved every 

greased-pig contest, every county fair, every parking lot 

rally, and every conversation in every living room he burst 

into—often unannounced, and usually uninvited. And the 

voters loved him back. 

Buoyed by the Nixon landslide and a last-minute endorsement by his boss, he won. And so at 32, TRENT had achieved 

what so many others in this country have experienced: the 

realization, through wits and hard work, of an outrageous 

dream. The boy from Pascagoula would return to Washington as the gentleman from Mississippi, full of energy and 

ready to put it to use. 

A year later came Watergate, new wisdom, and soon the 

recognition by TRENT’s colleagues that he was a leader. 

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It was an exciting time to be in Washington. The Reagan 

revolution was about to take hold. As TRENT later recalled: 

‘‘You could feel the political ground shift.’’ And he would play 

a leading role. 

Rising up the leadership ladder, he revolutionized the 

House’s whip operation and found his place in the push and 

pull of counting votes. The only Member in history to serve 

as whip in both Chambers, TRENT put his skills on display 

every day on the floor and in some close leadership races 

over the years, three of which he won by a single vote. ‘‘If 

you win by two,’’ TRENT always said, ‘‘you’ve wasted a vote.’’ 

But his special gift back then, as now, was his ability to 

bring people around to his point of view. One of his college 

friends put it this way: ‘‘TRENT could carry on a conversation 

with a tree stump—and make it feel good about itself.’’ His 

colleagues soon learned that TRENT LOTT’s word was as solid 

as a Mississippi oak. So armed with a reputation for honesty, 

charm, wits, and a group of trusted soldiers—including an 

Arizona lawyer named Jon Kyl and a young former Maine 

State senator named Olympia Snowe—he turned minority 

Republicans into a potent legislative force, ensuring some of 

the biggest victories of the Reagan revolution. 

At the end of the Reagan years, TRENT set his sights on 

the Senate, and his opponent in that first race came right at 

him. But TRENT was ready for the fight. When the opponent 

said TRENT’s hair was too neat, TRENT politely offered him 

a comb. When he falsely accused TRENT of being an elitist, 

the pipefitter’s son responded the old-fashioned way: He and 

Tricia met just about every voter in the State that summer. 

The voters could judge for themselves what kind of guy he 

was. 

And, of course, they liked him, and they made him their 

Senator. And he did not disappoint. Again, he rose quickly, 

becoming conference secretary and then whip. Then came 

another retirement, sending TRENT to the top of the class 

again as his party’s leader in the Senate. On passing tough 

legislation, he did not understand the word ‘‘no.’’ On working 

out deals, he was without equal. 

We all saw it up close after Katrina, when TRENT became 

a ferocious advocate for the people of Mississippi and the 

wider gulf coast, many of whom would rather live in tents 

than move away. And in a fight that brought together all his 

skills as a politician and home State advocate, he won. 

We all know how valuable good staff is. TRENT has always 

had the best. We honor all of them today—past and 

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present—for their tremendous contributions. To those who 

stay behind, we are glad you will be here. For those who do 

not, we wish you every success. 

TRENT has lived life fully, never afraid to reach higher and 

always ready to accept whatever fate would bring. Who in 

this Chamber was not impressed by the way he dusted himself off after stepping down as leader? He never quit. And 

there is something deeply admirable in that. 

To me, TRENT has always been the perfect colleague. We 

have been in a lot of tough spots together. He has always 

helped me in every possible way, and he has taught me a lot. 

Looking back on his beginnings, it is astonishing to think 

of how far the son of Chester and Iona Lott has come. He 

leaves this place with a remarkable 35-year record of accomplishment of which he can be justly proud and scores of admirers from across the ideological spectrum. He will leave a 

mark on this institution that long outlasts the political fights 

of the day. 

It is hard to believe TRENT will not be around when we all 

come back in January and the gavel drops on another session. But when it does, we will remember at some point in 

the days and weeks that follow that mischievous grin or a 

heavy slap on the back or some happy tune we heard him 

whistle once when he passed us quickly in the hall. 

Then we will be glad to have served with a man like 

TRENT LOTT, and renewed in the hope that this institution 

and this Nation that he loves—to borrow the words of another Mississippian—will not merely endure, they will prevail. 

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 409, which 

is at the desk. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the resolution by title. 

The assistant legislative clerk read as follows: 

A resolution (S. Res. 409) commending the service of the Honorable TRENT

LOTT, a Senator from the State of Mississippi. 

There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider 

the resolution. 

Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous 

consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be 

agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be laid upon the 

table. 

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The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, 

it is so ordered. 

The resolution (S. Res. 409) was agreed to. 

The preamble was agreed to. 

The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows: 

S. RES. 409 

Whereas CHESTER TRENT LOTT, a United States Senator from Mississippi, 

was born to Chester and Iona Watson Lott on October 9, 1941, in Grenada, 

Mississippi; 

Whereas TRENT LOTT was raised in Pascagoula, Mississippi, attended 

public schools, and excelled in baseball, band, theater, and student government; 

Whereas after graduating from Pascagoula High School, where he met his 

future wife during band practice, TRENT LOTT enrolled in the University of 

Mississippi in 1959; 

Whereas TRENT LOTT pledged Sigma Nu, rising to become its president; 

formed a singing quartet known as The Chancellors; and was elected ‘‘head 

cheerleader’’ of the Ole Mississippi football team; 

Whereas upon graduating college, TRENT LOTT enrolled in the University 

of Mississippi Law School in 1963, excelling in moot court and as president 

of the Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity; 

Whereas upon graduating from law school in 1967, TRENT LOTT practiced 

law in Pascagoula, then served as administrative assistant to United States 

Representative William Colmer until 1972; 

Whereas upon Congressman Colmer’s retirement, TRENT LOTT was elected 

to replace him in November 1972 as a Republican representing Mississippi’s 

Fifth District; 

Whereas TRENT LOTT was reelected by the voters of the Fifth District to 

seven succeeding terms, rising to the position of minority whip and serving 

in that role with distinction from 1981 to 1989; 

Whereas TRENT LOTT was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1988 and reelected three times, serving as chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules 

and Administration from 2003 to 2006; 

Whereas TRENT LOTT was chosen by his Senate Republican colleagues to 

serve as Majority Whip for the 104th Congress, then chosen to lead his 

party in the Senate as both Majority Leader and Minority Leader from 1996 

to 2003; 

Whereas TRENT LOTT was chosen by his peers to serve as Minority Whip 

for the 110th Congress; 

Whereas TRENT LOTT’s warmth, decency, and devotion to the people of 

Mississippi and the country have contributed to his legendary skill at working cooperatively with people from all political parties and ideologies; 

Whereas, in addition to his many legislative achievements in a congressional career spanning more than three decades, TRENT LOTT has earned 

the admiration, respect, and affection of his colleagues and of the American 

People; 

Whereas he has drawn strength and support in a life of high achievement 

and high responsibility from his faith, his beloved wife Tricia, their children, 

Tyler and Chet; and their grandchildren: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the Senate 

Notes with deep appreciation the retirement of CHESTER TRENT LOTT; 

Extends its best wishes to TRENT LOTT and his family; 

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Honors the integrity and outstanding work TRENT LOTT has done in service to his country; and 

Directs the Secretary of the Senate to transmit a copy of this resolution 

to the family of Senator TRENT LOTT. 

Mr. MCCONNELL. I yield the floor. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from 

Mississippi. 

Mr. COCHRAN. Madam President, the decision made by 

my State colleague to retire from the Senate has left me with 

a deep sense of loss. I respect his right to leave the Senate, 

and I know he will enjoy a well-earned respite from the demands and challenges that go with this job. 

TRENT LOTT has served with distinction, and he has reflected great credit on our State and Nation. I have enjoyed 

his personal friendship and the opportunity to come to know 

his family, his wonderful wife Tricia and their two fine children, Chet and Tyler. 

TRENT and I were elected to serve in the U.S. House of 

Representatives in 1972. At that time, he was serving as the 

administrative assistant to Congressman William Colmer, 

who was the chairman of the Rules Committee in the House. 

So I looked to him for advice and counsel because of his experience on the Hill and his insight into how the House really worked, as only an insider such as he would know. 

We became friends right away. We were the first Republicans elected from our districts in Mississippi since the Reconstruction period following the Civil War. 

In due course, we were elected to serve in this body, and 

we have worked together over the years on the many challenges that have confronted our State. 

I will truly miss serving with TRENT in the Senate. I have 

come to respect him and appreciate his legislative skills and 

his great capacity for hard work. He is a tireless and resolute advocate for causes and issues which he decides to support. In a word, he is a winner. He gets things done. 

I know TRENT and his family will enjoy the new opportunities they will have following his great career in the House 

and the Senate. They have certainly earned the right to new, 

less burdensome, and more rewarding experiences in the 

years ahead. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from 

Oregon. 

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Mr. SMITH. Madam President, I have been privileged to 

serve as a U.S. Senator now going into the 12th year of a 

second term. In all 12 of those years, it has been for me a 

great privilege and a high honor to serve as a colleague of 

TRENT LOTT. 

Over the course of those 12 years, TRENT LOTT has told me 

many times that he has visited every State in the Union except Oregon. Notwithstanding that, this Oregonian feels 

great pride today in speaking for TRENT LOTT. 

I hope TRENT will come to Oregon someday, and when he 

comes to Oregon, there is a place I would like to take him. 

We have in Oregon many groves of very ancient trees. It is 

tall timber. These trees go back 2,000 and 3,000 years. But 

because they are old, occasionally one of these sequoias will 

fall. And when they fall, a hole in the huge canopy in the sky 

is opened. 

When you are in one of these groves, you feel something 

of the presence of the sacred, a sanctuary. That is a feeling 

that I often have when I come to the floor of the U.S. Senate. 

Occasionally, some tall timber leaves our presence—through 

retirement or death or from other causes—and when that 

happens, a great hole is left in the Senate. That is the feeling I have as I contemplate the retirement of TRENT LOTT. 

In this sanctuary, a great hole in the canopy will be opened. 

Madam President, when I think of the men I have known, 

the women I have known in the Senate, they are people of 

extraordinary ability, but one stands apart in my mind as 

how to get things done, and that is TRENT LOTT. I have 

never seen his equal in the Cloakroom. We have all felt his 

warm slap on our back, a steely look in his eye, and a strong 

urging to vote this way or that. But it was always done with 

understanding that we represent not just a party but our 

country and our States, and that is where our obligation lies. 

It was because TRENT was so good, in my mind, that he 

is still, and will forever be, something of an ideal because he 

was my first leader. What I saw in him was someone who 

knew this institution deeply, who worked relentlessly, who 

could define differences and help us to reach honorable compromises so that when we went home, we could look back on 

something of an accomplishment. 

I am proud of the example my first leader set for me. It 

is a high standard. I thank you, TRENT, for that standard. 

It is the gold standard, in my mind. 

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election and on vacation. I watched over international news 

as his words were misconstrued—words which we had heard 

him utter many times in his big warm-heartedness, trying to 

make one of our colleagues, Strom Thurmond, feel good at 

100 years old. We knew what he meant, but the wolf pack 

of the press circled around him, sensed blood in the water, 

and the exigencies of politics caused a great injustice to be 

done to him and to Tricia. It was a wrong, but it was a 

wrong that was righted. 

I was privileged to be asked by TRENT LOTT to speak for 

him when he ran for whip. On that occasion, as I thought 

of TRENT, I thought of more than my leader, my first leader. 

I thought of him as something much more. I thought of him 

as a friend and as a father figure. I recalled on that occasion 

words I spoke regarding my own father at his funeral that 

seemed to define the man—the man I called dad and the 

man I called my leader. They are words that were put into 

the mouth of the character Anthony by the great writer 

Shakespeare. Shakespeare said of Caesar, when Caesar had 

fallen, these words: ‘‘His life was gentle and the elements so 

mixed in him that nature might stand up and say to all the 

world: this was a man.’’ I am privileged to call this man my 

friend. May God bless TRENT and Tricia Lott and thank God 

for their service to Mississippi and even to Oregon and to the 

United States of America. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority 

whip is recognized. 

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I join my fellow Senators 

in wishing my colleague, TRENT LOTT, the best of luck as he 

begins the next chapter in his life. You are getting to hear 

your eulogies today, TRENT, and they are pretty good. Most 

of us never think we will have that opportunity. 

Senator LOTT and I sure have had our differences in the 

11 years I have served in the Senate, and I guess we always 

will when it comes to some issues, but serving together this 

past year as whips for our respective parties has given me 

a chance to work closely with TRENT on a number of issues 

and this I can say: TRENT LOTT is a committed Republican. 

He can be a partisan, but he cares about the Senate. He understands that politics, in the Senate and in life, is the art 

of compromise. He has been willing to reach across the aisle 

to try to find a way to make the Senate work and make our 

government work and I respect him very much for that. 

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F. Scott Fitzgerald famously declared that: ‘‘There are no 

second acts in American lives.’’ Well, Mr. Fitzgerald obviously didn’t meet TRENT LOTT. 

In the first act, TRENT LOTT began his career on Capitol 

Hill working for a Democratic Congressman from Mississippi. He then, of course, was elected as a Republican 

Congressman from the same State. He spent more than 

three decades in Congress serving the people of Mississippi. 

As a leader in the Senate, he helped steer America through 

some of the most turbulent chapters in our recent history: 

Two shutdowns of the Federal Government, an impeachment 

trial, a 9/11 terrorist attack on our Nation, and anthrax attacks on the U.S. Capital. With my friend, Tom Daschle, he 

negotiated the delicate terms of our Nation’s first-ever 50–50 

Senate split. 

Seven years ago this week, TRENT LOTT stepped aside as 

majority leader. Some wondered then whether Senator LOTT

might be through with the Senate. But he stayed and he 

managed in a short time to write one of the most remarkable 

second acts in this Senate in recent memory. 

I know TRENT must be feeling mixed emotions as he leaves 

the Senate. I can assure my fellow whip he has left a mark 

and will be remembered for a long time, not for Seersucker 

Thursday, not for wearing kilts on the floor of the Senate. 

TRENT LOTT will be remembered because he is one of us. 

I wish Senator LOTT and his wife Tricia and his family the 

best of luck as they begin another new act. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from 

North Carolina is recognized. 

Mrs. DOLE. Madam President, Harry Truman was wrong. 

Truman famously defined a statesman as ‘‘a politician who 

has been dead for 20 years.’’ It is a good line, but it wasn’t 

true then, as Truman’s own career attests, and it is not true 

today. That said, we can never have enough statesmen and 

women to validate our democratic creed, which makes our 

sense of loss all the greater when an authentic statesman 

leaves this place. 

For 35 years, TRENT LOTT has served the people of Mississippi with distinction, never forgetting their interests, 

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ship in a dynamic economy, or expanding both educational 

opportunity and accountability. Through it all, TRENT kept 

faith with the people who sent him here. Just as he long ago 

earned their trust and confidence, so he impressed Members 

on both sides of the aisle with his integrity and his decency. 

The only person ever to serve as a party whip in both 

Houses, TRENT soon became much more than a party leader. 

To his lasting credit, he helped convince us tax cuts were the 

road to economic revitalization. At the same time, he argued 

for a bipartisan approach to education reform. In the bleak 

aftermath of 9/11, TRENT appealed to what Abraham Lincoln 

called the better angels of our nature. Similar to Ronald 

Reagan, he wears an optimist’s smile, for he never confused 

an adversary with an enemy. TRENT LOTT will be remembered as someone who preferred to narrow our differences 

rather than exploit them. 

The junior Senator from Mississippi has scaled the heights 

in his political career and he has experienced life’s valleys as 

well. With dogged determination, he made adversity, whenever it occurred, a strengthening experience. As one who has 

shared Senate Bible studies with both TRENT and his beloved 

wife Tricia, I know that his has been a profoundly spiritual 

journey and one that is far from over. 

In a town where talk is cheap—indeed, it is the only thing 

that is cheap—TRENT prefers solutions to soundbites, and he 

has never mistaken civility for weakness. One of his basic 

principles is to respect others whose views might differ. More 

often than not, he found a way to distill the best of each, 

which to me is the definition of a statesman. 

His ability to get things done—to work effectively and foster relationships with colleagues from both parties—resulted 

in his numerous triumphs as the Senate majority leader. In 

his first year as leader, he personally led his colleagues to 

pass two landmark legislative items: Welfare reform and the 

budget compromise, which resulted in the first balanced 

budgets with surpluses in 30 years. 

Of course, the Senate is also a family, and on this day, I 

must mention some of my most cherished memories in the 

Dole family album, of TRENT and Tricia campaigning for me 

in Rocky Mountain, NC, in autumn 2002; of Bob Dole showing up for the Spouses Club, presided over by Tricia, though 

begging off on a tour of the Capitol since he said he had already seen the place. Nor will I ever forget sitting in TRENT’s 

cherished rocking chair on the front porch of his Pascagoula 

home—a home that would vanish on a brutal morning a litVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:02 May 15, 2009 Jkt 040534 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\LOTT\40534.TXT CRS2 PsN: SKAYNE
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tle more than 2 years ago, when a tempest named Katrina 

scoured miles and miles of Mississippi coastline. 

Similar to so many who looked out on the gulf, the Lotts 

lost everything that day—everything but life and love and 

the faith that gives to them both a meaning that no storm 

can wash away. In the years since, the victims of Katrina 

have had no more passionate advocates than TRENT and 

Tricia Lott. No one has worked harder, longer, to ensure that 

we honor the promises made to our fellow men and women 

along the gulf coast. As the mayor of Gulfport said about 

TRENT: 

Although suffering catastrophic personal losses himself, he has tirelessly 

fought our battles and won our wars for us time and again. His legacy will 

be recognized in every corner of our great State and the pages of history 

will reflect the honor and service of the Senator from Pascagoula who restored hope in the citizens of Mississippi. 

I would add I have great respect for Tricia’s enormous efforts to provide needed supplies and hope to the Katrina victims. 

Houses, we have learned, are vulnerable to the fury of nature. Supremacy in politicians is even more transitory. Majorities shift similar to the sands of Biloxi. But some things 

endure. Honor endures. True leadership generates its own 

legacy. True leaders stake their own claim to posterity’s gratitude. That is the stuff of statesmanship, and that is the essence of TRENT LOTT. 

The gentleman from Mississippi has had a lengthy and 

purpose-driven career in this institution, and he will be 

greatly missed. With deep admiration and respect for a 

trusted colleague, I wish TRENT and his family all the best. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from 

Utah is recognized. 

Mr. HATCH. Madam President, when I came to the Senate after the election of 1976, the chairman of the Judiciary 

Committee was a very distinguished gentleman from Mississippi named James Eastland. I can remember the first 

time I met Senator Eastland as a citizen newly elected to the 

Senate, when nobody thought I was going to make it. I was 

invited into his office and the first thing he did was offer me 

a cigar. I said: ‘‘Well, I am sorry, sir. My faith does not permit me to smoke.’’ He said: ‘‘Well, then, have a drink.’’ I replied: ‘‘Well, sorry, sir, but my faith doesn’t permit me to 

drink.’’ Senator Eastland then exclaimed very loudly: ‘‘What 

the expletive is the matter with you Mormons?’’ 

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I want everybody to know Senator LOTT has never offered 

me a cigar nor has he ever offered me a drink, although I 

think he has been tempted a few times. 

Let me say this: I have such admiration for Senator LOTT

and his wife Tricia and for the love and respect they have 

shown to all of us and this institution, and for all of their 

hard work. 

It is no secret that I bitterly resent the way Senator LOTT

was treated after Senator Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday 

party. It was wrong, and it was hitting below the belt. It 

would have crushed any one of us to go through what he 

went through, facing such harsh attacks knowing that he 

certainly did not mean to say what others tried to put in his 

mouth. But TRENT fought his way back, kept his head high, 

became a friend to everybody in the Senate again the very 

next day, and, of course, won the respect of virtually everybody who has ever known him or what he stands for. 

I have tremendous respect and love for TRENT and Tricia 

for the sacrifices they have made for their State and for this 

country. He and Senator Cochran have been one of the best 

duos in the history of the Senate—two real gentlemen, two 

strong, tough people. But, they are also two people who have 

shown respect for this body and all of its Members in ways 

that not many others have. 

All I can say is I wish Senator LOTT and Tricia the best 

of luck in all of their future endeavors. While I am certain 

he will be an asset to any effort with which he becomes involved, I am equally certain the Senate is going to be a lesser place without him. 

Supporting Senator LOTT throughout his time in the Congress is one of the most beautiful and noble women in the 

history of the Senate. Tricia Lott has been the quintessential 

Senate wife, and I doubt Senator LOTT would have been as 

great as he has become had it not been for his relationship 

with Tricia. 

Elaine and I are going to greatly miss you, TRENT. I know 

I am not supposed to refer to you by your first name, but I 

am going to make an exception in this case. We will always 

be pulling for you, your success, and your happiness in this 

life. This old Senator is going to miss you greatly. We are 

going to miss the efforts you put forth. We are going to miss 

the talents you have. We are going to miss the energy you 

bring to the Senate. And, we are most certainly going to miss 

your ability to bring us together, making better Senators out 

of us all. 

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God bless the Lotts. We in the Senate will surely miss 

them. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from 

Arizona. 

Mr. KYL. Madam President, almost exactly 21 years ago, 

after I had been elected to the House of Representatives 

from the State of Arizona, my wife Caryll and I came to 

Washington and almost immediately met TRENT and Tricia 

Lott. In fact, we have a photograph that is displayed in our 

home with TRENT and Tricia on which TRENT made a wonderful inscription. 

I learned from the very beginning that TRENT LOTT was a 

leader—a leader in the House of Representatives and a leader among his colleagues. I have been following TRENT LOTT

ever since as House whip, as Senate whip, as Senate Republican leader, and as a colleague in battles too numerous to 

mention. 

Chaplain Black began this morning asking that we come 

here to serve. No State has ever been served better than by 

their representative, TRENT LOTT. He always puts Mississippi first, yet always is able to balance his devotion to his 

constituents with the national interest and with his responsibilities in representing his colleagues. 

That he came to serve, again to use the Chaplain’s word, 

is best illustrated by his decision to run for reelection a year 

ago. Many of us knew TRENT had come to believe that he 

had to prioritize his family responsibilities and had concluded it was about time for him to leave public service. But 

the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina hit the coast of Mississippi, destroying not only the Lotts’ home in Pascagoula 

but so many of the homes and businesses of his friends in 

Mississippi. It did not take TRENT too long in pondering 

what he faced to conclude that he owed it to his constituents 

in Mississippi to continue to use his skills in Washington, 

DC, to represent them, to help them recover from the devastation that had been visited upon them. It was this service, 

after he had already concluded that his time had come to 

move out of public service, that I think illustrates perhaps 

better than anything else his devotion to the people of Mississippi, to his friends there. He did not decide to leave the 

Senate until his work was done, and for that the people of 

Mississippi, I know, will be forever grateful to TRENT LOTT. 

TRENT has always been known as being a person who has 

been able to find the common ground among his colleagues. 

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That is a very special skill. Some people call it dealmaking. 

Some people talk about it in terms of the art of compromise, 

frequently talking about TRENT’s ability to move across the 

aisle and to work with friends on both the Democratic and 

Republican side. 

I think his ability to do this, which is unprecedented in my 

21 years in Washington or unequaled, I should say, is due 

to a variety of qualities. First, TRENT’s intelligence; second, 

his boundless energy; third, his knowledge of the institutions, of both the House and the Senate. Again, I know of no 

equal in terms of the knowledge of how these bodies work 

and how we can achieve great things by working with people 

in both bodies. 

His knowledge of the nature of man—this is something my 

father taught me and I have tried to learn from people such 

as TRENT LOTT—what makes people tick—you can find that 

common ground and achieve great things if you understand 

people. I think that is one of TRENT’s greatest qualities and 

one which will be missed in this body. And, of course, his 

commitment to what he has always believed was right for 

Mississippi and America. Also contributing to his success is 

his faith, and it sustained him more than we will ever know. 

And finally, of course, his family. 

It is interesting that everybody who has commented about 

TRENT’s service in the Senate has quickly moved to also comment about his commitment to his family and in particular 

his wonderful wife Tricia. It has to say something when that 

is one of the first things people think of when they think of 

you. I know if that is the way TRENT is remembered, he will 

be a very happy man. 

TRENT LOTT has been serving almost his entire adult life— 

the people of Mississippi, the people of America, his colleagues in the House and Senate. And I have been honored 

to serve with TRENT for 21 years. I have learned a lot. Most 

important, I have enjoyed my time with TRENT, especially 

quiet times. 

Now it is time for TRENT to serve his family more in accordance with his priorities, and no one can argue that he 

has not earned that right. 

So TRENT LOTT, a man for all seasons—Representative, 

Senator, servant, leader, husband, father and grandfather, 

proud American and Mississippian, and friend—thank you. 

God bless you. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from 

Pennsylvania. 

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Mr. SPECTER. Madam President, I noticed the Senator 

from California and I rose virtually simultaneously. I yield 

to her. 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Madam President, I thank the Senator 

from Pennsylvania very much. It is very generous of him. My 

remarks are very brief and they are very personal. 

TRENT, I want you to know how much I have enjoyed 

working with you. I have enjoyed your friendship, I have enjoyed your sense of humor and, yes, I have even enjoyed your 

singing. 

(Laughter.) 

I have found you to be both forthright and truthful. I have 

found that when you give your word, you keep it. I tend to 

judge people on two bases: how they go through the tough 

times and whether I would want to be in a bunker with 

them in a real debate. 

I watched you go through the tough times. I remember you 

showing me a picture of a chair that had gone a mile from 

the home that blew down in the hurricane. I remember your 

fight with the insurance company, and I can only say to that 

insurance company: Give up, you are going to lose. 

I want you to know how much I treasure the relationship 

we have had. You have a great future. For you and your 

family, you are probably doing the right thing. For us, it is 

going to be a real loss. I want you to know how much I enjoyed the times we had socially, the seersucker caucus, seeing you turn up here in white bucks, all clean, spotless, a 

seersucker suit, a pink shirt, and a pink tie. No one in seersucker quite equals you, TRENT LOTT. For me, a westerner, 

to see a southerner at his peacock best was incredibly special. 

I thank you for your contributions to the Senate. I thank 

you for your friendship. I wish you well, and may the wind 

always be at your back. 

I yield the floor. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from 

Pennsylvania. 

Mr. SPECTER. Madam President, I join my colleagues in 

expressing my heartiest congratulations to my good friend, 

Senator TRENT LOTT, on his historic career of 35 years as a 

Member of the U.S. Congress. I also express deep regrets 

that following the new year, we will no longer have TRENT

LOTT as a Member of this body. His announcement that he 

will be retiring was a shock to some of us here in the Senate. 

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TRENT has been the embodiment of what’s good in this body 

for so long, that it will be difficult to think of the U.S. Senate 

without the Senator from Mississippi. I applaud TRENT’s outstanding service to the people of Mississippi, and the Nation, 

which he has successfully undertaken in both wings of the 

U.S. Capitol. 

TRENT LOTT was born on October 9, 1941, in Grenada, MS, 

the only child to a shipyard worker, Chester Lott, and a 

schoolteacher mother, Iona. TRENT attended a high school 

which in later years would bear his name, the Trent Lott 

Middle School. LOTT went to the University of Mississippi 

where he achieved an undergraduate degree in public administration in 1963 and a law degree in 1967. During his time 

at college he married his wife Patricia Thompson in December 1964. Together the couple had a son and a daughter, 

Chester and Tyler. 

After graduating from law school, TRENT began a law practice in Pascagoula, MS, but left after less than a year when 

he was offered a job working in Washington as an administrative assistant for Congressman William Colmer, a Mississippi Democrat. When Congressman Colmer announced 

his retirement from the House of Representatives, TRENT

LOTT announced his candidacy as a Republican to seek the 

vacant office. LOTT, even as a Republican, won Colmer’s endorsement, vowing to fight the increasing power of government that was developing in Washington. LOTT went on to 

win the seat with 55 percent of the vote. The next 35 years 

would mark a series of extraordinary moments in history as 

TRENT LOTT begins his career as a Member of Congress. 

I have had the privilege of serving with TRENT in the Senate for the past 19 years. I have watched him throughout his 

Senate career develop into a strong and effective leader, 

mastering the art of compromise, a feat which is hard to accomplish in these times. These qualities served TRENT well 

as he climbed the ranks in House and Senate leadership: he 

served as House minority whip from 1981 to 1989; Senate 

majority whip for 5 months in 1995; and in June 1996, he 

succeeded my good friend, Senator Bob Dole, to become the 

16th majority leader of the Senate. TRENT served a brief 

stint as minority leader after the 2000 elections produced a 

50–50 split in the Senate, with Vice President Al Gore still 

being the tiebreaking vote. As the Bush administration came 

into office, with Vice President Dick Cheney now being the 

tiebreaker, control went back to the Republicans and TRENT

resumed his duties as majority leader. Later in 2001, TRENT

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would once again become minority leader as Senator Jim Jeffords, a Republican from Vermont, became an Independent 

and caucused with the Democrats, allowing them to regain 

the majority. Presumably, TRENT will leave the Senate while 

serving in his most recent leadership position; he was elected 

this Congress to serve as the Republican whip. Senator 

TRENT LOTT is the first person to have served as whip in 

both Houses of Congress. 

Drawing on his impressive experience as a legislator and 

a negotiator, Majority Leader LOTT was instrumental in 

promptly moving legislation from Congress to the President’s 

desk. Working harmoniously with the executive and legislative branches of government, the country witnessed landmark bills being signed into law. Major policy initiatives, 

such as the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 and bringing balance 

to the Federal budget for the first time since 1968, were both 

accomplished under TRENT’s leadership. However, I was 

most impressed with the role TRENT played in the impeachment proceedings for President Bill Clinton. Working with 

him during this difficult time in our country’s history was an 

experience I will always remember. 

Aside from a distinguished career as majority leader, Senator LOTT has been a champion for his own State of Mississippi. Recognizing that the top priorities in Mississippi are 

an expanded transportation system and innovative education, TRENT time and time again proved to the people of 

his State his ability to deliver. He has secured Federal funding to improve Mississippi’s transportation expansion and 

has more than doubled research funding for Mississippi’s 

public universities. Recognizing TRENT’s leadership through 

public service, the University of Mississippi in Oxford, where 

he received both his undergraduate and law degrees, named 

its leadership institute after him. 

On a personal note, I believe all my colleagues can agree 

with me, that along with his remarkable accomplishments in 

Congress, what we will miss most about TRENT is his affability, commonsense persona, and his enjoyable sense of 

humor. He brings a breath of fresh air to Washington, a 

town which desperately needs it at times. No one questioned 

TRENT’s motive when he revived a long-forgotten Senate tradition known as Seersucker Thursday, a tradition which this 

Senator has participated in, and will continue to participate 

in. 

Senator TRENT LOTT’s service and leadership were invaluable to this institution. Truly a great Senator, he will be 

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missed in this body. I wish him, his wife Patricia, and all his 

family the very best in the years to come. 

I am pleased to join in this tribute to Senator LOTT. My 

only regret is that it is occurring perhaps 18 years too soon. 

I would characterize TRENT’s attributes, among many, as 

his talent, his character, and his flair. He has brought to this 

body enormous intellectual capability and great street 

smarts. Ordinarily, the two do not go together, but with 

TRENT, they have been united to the great benefit of the 

body. 

We have watched TRENT in his positions in the Senate before taking a leadership role after his election in 1988, being 

the majority leader, and the way he makes contacts on the 

Senate floor. We all move around, none with the speed and 

alacrity of TRENT LOTT. There is always an intensity to his 

conversations. He doesn’t buttonhole people or lean over as 

Lyndon Johnson was reputed to have done, but there is a 

real intensity. Usually at the end of the short conversation, 

the other person is nodding in the affirmative. 

At our Tuesday luncheons, the way he moves around from 

table to table, it was almost as if he were in Club 21. Here 

again, moving in and out with a great deal of speed and, 

again, the conversations and what I surmise at some distance to be success. 

He has been characterized as a dealmaker, a term which 

is not always used in the highest sense, but with TRENT

LOTT it is. The great problem with our body is there are not 

enough deal makers. Not enough Senators willing to come to 

an accommodation. It is an understanding of the varied 

points of view. 

On the rare occasions when I have disagreed with a majority vote—may the record show TRENT is smiling—he has 

been understanding in his leadership position, never conceding, and frequently advocating, but always understanding. 

If there is one thing this body lacks, it is a sense of accommodation. That is evident by anybody who will take a photograph of the Chamber today and note how many people on 

the other side of the aisle have appeared here. I hope their 

numbers will be increased before this proceeding is concluded. 

The business about our political process being dominated 

by the extremes of both parties is very much to the detriment of the country. Those who are willing to cross the 

aisle, as the last speaker did on the Democratic side, the 

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Senator from California, the country owes a great debt of 

gratitude to. And to those such as Senator LOTT who have 

been able to forge compromises, it is in the greatest tradition 

of the Senate and the greatest tradition of the United States. 

Just a word or two about his character. I attended the 

100th birthday party of Senator Thurmond on December 4, 

2002. I have seen many comments blown vastly out of proportion during my tenure in the Senate and before, but 

never have I seen one blown as much out of proportion as 

that one was. And I said so at the time. My record on civil 

rights is one which no one yet has questioned. What Senator 

LOTT said was in no means out of line. And then to continue 

in the Senate and really move as a Member without leadership credentials was to his enormous credit. Then to come 

back and to run for another leadership position and be successful was in the greatest tradition of the phoenix rising 

from the ashes. I haven’t seen any greater display of character in this body in the time I have been here. 

Then there is the matter of flair, which this body needs 

more of. Always a smile, always a pat on the back, always 

the joviality, and the great tradition of Seersucker Thursday. 

It is always an interesting time when people come, not recognizing Seersucker Thursday. One day, our leader, Bill Frist, 

went out and bought a suit—and I have a picture hanging 

proudly in my outer office—and Bill couldn’t get the trousers 

adjusted, and the highlight of the picture is the unadjusted 

trousers of one of our Senate colleagues. 

Let me end on a note which I have debated whether I 

should comment about, but it is relevant because of the response TRENT made to a short story I told recently at the celebrity comedy evening. I dusted off an old story from Mayor 

Bill Daley at the 1968 convention and made TRENT the object 

of the story. It went to the effect that when TRENT came 

back to the Senate after the losses in Mississippi, he was 

devastated and very glum. 

I approached him on the Senate floor one day and said: 

‘‘TRENT, why are you so unhappy? What is wrong?’’ 

I knew, in one sense, but he seemed especially morose. 

He said: ‘‘Well, Arlen, not only was my entire property destroyed in Mississippi, but my entire library was destroyed— 

both books—and I wasn’t finished coloring one of them, either.’’ 

Well, that little bit of joviality at TRENT’s expense was met 

with his approaching me on the floor—and this part of the 

story is true and what makes it perhaps relevant to these 

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comments—and with a scowl on his face, he said: ‘‘Arlen, I 

thought you and I were friends. We have been in this body 

a long time together. Now I hear you are making me the 

butt of jokes at comedy hour, so I don’t really understand. 

And besides your unfairness and your incivility, you are 

wrong—I have more than two coloring books.’’ 

In a sense, that characterizes TRENT LOTT’s magnanimity, 

and we are all going to miss him very much. He has made 

a great contribution. When TRENT decided there was another 

course for him and his family, I had great respect for that 

decision as I have great respect for him. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from 

Iowa. 

Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I had an opportunity 

to hear the first half hour of this tribute to Senator LOTT, 

and then I had to go on to another piece of business, and I 

have just returned. But in all of this conversation about Senator LOTT, there has been some levity. I am not going to be 

able to add to that because my wife always tells me every 

time I try to be funny, I kind of screw up. So I want to add 

to the business aspect of Senator LOTT and the Senate. 

I think most of the tribute I heard praised Senator LOTT

for making the Senate work, the process of the Senate, moving things through the Senate, making the Senate a great 

part of our institution of self-government, and he does that. 

But I would like to talk about the substance of policy I have 

seen TRENT LOTT bring to the Senate and bring to the people, and whatever I talk about is part of the laws of the 

United States to which I think he has contributed. 

Like all of my colleagues, it is hard for me to imagine the 

Congress, and especially the Senate, without TRENT LOTT

being a part of it. 

I met my friend TRENT LOTT when I was elected to the 

House of Representatives in 1974. He had already been in 

the House of Representatives at that time for 2 years. As has 

been said so many times, he went on to become a very competent House Republican whip, first showing what a successful national leader he would prove to be again and again, as 

he is now in that position in the Senate. 

I also remember talking with Congressman LOTT 8 years 

after I came to the Senate, as he was imagining whether he 

should run for the Senate. But it has really only been in the 

last 12 years that I have had the opportunity to work most 

closely with Senator LOTT. He has been a very strong ally, 

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particularly for me as a leader on the Finance Committee, 

but he has also, on occasion, been a worthy opponent. 

Senator LOTT has fought tirelessly for legislation that respects the principle of less government and more freedom, 

particularly economic freedom. His support for tax relief, expanded market opportunities for U.S. manufacturers and for 

job creation, and for consumer-driven health care has been 

essential to the many successful legislative initiatives that 

have come from the Committee on Finance in recent years. 

Back in 1997, as a new member of the Finance Committee, 

Senator LOTT worked for passage of the Tax Relief Act of 

1997. This legislation included a $500-per-child tax credit, a 

20-percent capital gains tax rate, the Roth IRA, and estate 

tax relief for small businesses. In fact, Senator LOTT was a 

leading proponent of capital gains tax relief, and he remains 

unfailing today in his commitment to this vitally important 

pro-growth tax policy. 

In 1998 Senator LOTT was a key player on the Finance 

Committee in putting together a final agreement on the 

highway bill. 

In 2001, when I became chairman of the Finance Committee and we had the opportunity to pass the largest tax relief bill in a generation, Senator LOTT was Republican leader 

at that time, but he continued as a member of the Finance 

Committee and in turn an essential supporter and contributor to what has become known as the Economic Growth and 

Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. This legislation lowered rates for all taxpayers, made the Tax Code more progressive, and created the first ever 10-percent marginal tax 

rate. 

Two years later, after September 11, we were at work on 

the Finance Committee to pass legislation to stimulate the 

economy. Again, Senator LOTT was in the forefront as an advocate for reducing the capital gains tax rate to 15 percent, 

where it is today. Senator LOTT weighed in heavily to get it 

done. Also, with lowering taxes on income from dividends 

and capital gains, the Job Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation 

Act of 2003 accelerated some of the tax changes passed in 

2001 and increased the exemption amount for the alternative 

minimum tax. These initiatives encouraged economic growth 

and were vital to mitigating the economic shock of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. By spurring economic 

activity, those tax policies altogether resulted in recordbreaking revenues collected by the Federal Treasury. 

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Senator LOTT has brought tremendous energy to policy 

and tremendous energy to getting the work of the Senate 

done. But I am going to remember his contribution to the 

policy this Senate has made—very good policy—and he has 

been there working very hard as a member of the Senate Finance Committee to do that. The drive to get the work done 

has helped me get my work done in the Senate. 

Now, there is no doubt he served his constituents of Mississippi very effectively. After nearly two decades in the Senate, he showed his loyalty by staying in the Senate after a 

planned retirement just last election. He decided to run for 

reelection in order to do what he has done for an entire life 

as a public servant—to help the people of Mississippi, and in 

this specific instance to help the people of Mississippi recover 

from Hurricane Katrina. Mississippians didn’t quit, and neither did Senator LOTT quit. He used his influence and power 

in the Senate to help his State recover. 

As a Republican leader in the Senate, TRENT LOTT’s experience and knowledge of the Senate and the Senate’s procedures have proven to be invaluable. It will be a long time, 

if ever, that we see anyone work the whip process better 

than Senator LOTT has. 

Senator LOTT leaves the Senate with a great legacy of accomplishments. Woven throughout everything, though, is 

Senator LOTT’s ability to lead. He demonstrated repeatedly 

his talents and abilities for building winning coalitions. He 

led with commitment to getting things done. He understood 

that there are different points of view but that they can be 

brought together for the right approach that brings results 

and, as a result, good policy. 

I salute Senator LOTT’s tremendous success as a leader in 

the Senate, and I am truly sorry to see Senator LOTT leave 

the Senate. I will miss him as a colleague and as a friend. 

TRENT LOTT has made the Senate, he has made his home 

State, and, for sure, the Nation a better place. 

Thank you for your service, TRENT LOTT. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from 

Maine. 

Ms. SNOWE. Madam President, I wish to join all of my 

colleagues, sadly and regrettably, in a big farewell to my 

very good friend, a good friend to this institution, a giant in 

this institution, as TRENT prepares to leave the Senate and 

usher in a new chapter of his much-accomplished life. With 

his 35 years of distinguished service, his leaving the Senate 

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represents an enormous loss to our Nation and to his beloved 

State of Mississippi, to the Senate, and to many of us personally. 

There is no question that it speaks volumes about his dedication and commitment to his beloved State of Mississippi 

when he could not and would not leave the Senate until his 

State found solid ground and footing in the aftermath of the 

horrific devastation of Hurricane Katrina. 

I must admit I feel as if I bear some responsibility in 

TRENT’s leaving the Senate. You see, a few weeks ago, prior 

to the recess, TRENT said: ‘‘Olympia, if you don’t vote with 

me, I am leaving the Senate.’’ Always the straightforward 

approach. TRENT, I just didn’t realize you were serious. So I 

am a little relieved to know it wasn’t about me. 

But, you know, I have known TRENT for 28 years, since we 

first served together in the House of Representatives, and I 

have always known him to be an adept and thoughtful legislator in his various leadership capacities in both the House 

and Senate. He forged the template for reaching out and 

solving problems and strengthening the respective institutions in which he served. 

I saw first hand his masterful skills as minority whip 

when he was elected in 1981. In 1982, he raised a few eyebrows when this conservative man from the South named a 

centrist woman from Maine as his chief deputy whip. That 

was groundbreaking at the time because it was the first Republican woman to serve in that capacity. But in 1981, we 

only had 192 Republicans in the House, and TRENT demonstrated his legendary abilities to cross party lines, secure 

the votes, and was so instrumental to instituting President 

Reagan’s agenda. So it was no surprise that President 

Reagan would frequently call TRENT and his whip organization to the White House, because he knew TRENT was central 

and crucial to securing those early threshold victories for his 

key initiatives. 

For those who served at that time in the House of Representatives, we had epic budget and tax-cut battles. We 

were rebuilding our hollow forces after Vietnam and of 

course, the cold war was in full force. Indisputably, TRENT

rose to the occasion time and time again. He was a consummate coalition builder. He created what he described as the 

buddy system, bridging the political divide, understanding 

that there would be regional, political, and philosophical differences that would divide us, but he would find a way to 

unite us. 

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At that time we had, what was it, Gypsy Moths, which 

were the Northeast-Midwest Republicans, those of us who 

were there, Republicans, and then the Boll Weevils, who 

were southern Democrats. I will leave it up to you to decide 

whether it is appropriate to name Members of Congress after 

insects. Nevertheless, that was the regional divide and it 

was TRENT’s challenge to bridge that divide, and he did it 

time and time again. Even after the 1982 election—we lost 

26 Republican seats in the House of Representatives, now we 

were down to 166 Members of the House—he managed to secure votes that would have eluded others. In fact, we were 

able to obtain a 100-percent increase in defense spending in 

5 years. That is what he was able to accomplish, because he 

systematically and mathematically as well as philosophically 

worked with people across the political lines to make it work. 

As he says himself, he is a congenital doer, who wants to 

solve the problems of this great Nation. 

It is no surprise, then, that he would be the first person 

elected to whip in both the House and Senate. He rose rapidly here within the ranks of leadership, with the culmination as Senate majority leader in 1996. He characteristically 

wasted no time once again applying the same formula for coalition building and achieving the passage of watershed legislation, as has been mentioned—whether it was the minimum wage, Kassebaum-Kennedy legislation on health care 

portability, or the landmark welfare reform, even after it had 

been vetoed twice by the President. 

We all know during that period of time as well his tenure 

was bookended by unprecedented and historic events—the 

impeachment trial, a 50–50 Senate for the first time in 120 

years, and the worst attack on American soil. He managed 

to achieve the first balanced budgets in probably more than 

a half a century. He, as we all well know, guided this institution with dignity and skill during those tumultuous times. 

On a more personal note, one of the crowning achievements of his persuasive powers is when, as others have mentioned here today, he was determined to dedicate Thursday, 

one summer day, for Seersucker Day. He approached me 

with the idea. He said, ‘‘Olympia, are you going to wear a 

seersucker suit?’’ I said, ‘‘TRENT, be serious; I am from 

Maine. We don’t wear seersucker suits and I will not wear 

it. Not over my dead body.’’ 

Of course, when Seersucker Day arrived, I showed up in 

a seersucker suit, to his surprise, alive and well. But that is 

an indication of his ability to persuade. 

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Finally, I think there can be no discussion of TRENT’s legacy without paying tribute to his extraordinary wife Tricia. 

Theirs is truly a special partnership. I know TRENT would be 

the first to say he could not have done any of it without 

Tricia. She in her own right has contributed immeasurably, 

in both the House and the Senate, and their wonderful children as well. 

To the Senator from Mississippi, Senator LOTT, you have 

been a pivotal and positive and powerful force for the good 

for our first branch of government, bearing a close resemblance to what our Founding Fathers had in mind—Madison 

in particular—when he said he expected of the Senate ‘‘to 

prefer the long and true welfare of our country.’’ 

It is with profound gratitude we say farewell and wish you 

well. God bless you and Tricia and your entire family. 

I yield the floor. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from 

Michigan is recognized. 

Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, I rise today also to 

express my friendship and gratitude to the great Senator 

from the State of Mississippi. When I think about comments 

that have been said about his effectiveness, I have to say 

from this side of the aisle, we have lamented his effectiveness from time to time—and appreciated, as well, the desire 

and the practical side of the Senator from Mississippi, to 

want to get things done, to be able to make things work. I, 

for one, am very grateful for that. 

I am assuming some of that comes from having been on 

the staff side as well as having been in the House and the 

Senate and learning how things work and valuing governing, 

valuing relationships, and wanting to get things done. 

Back in my home State of Michigan, when I talk about the 

legislation Senator LOTT and I have championed, folks raise 

their eyebrows. What are you two doing working together on 

something? I talk to them about the fact that if it weren’t for 

Senator LOTT and his leadership, joining with me, we would 

not have achieved something important earlier this year 

based on legislation we introduced to provide more competition in the area of prescription drugs, and to lower the price 

of prescription drugs through the ability of generic drugs to 

come into the marketplace. We were successful in amending 

the FDA bill. It got tough in conference. A lot of folks didn’t 

want to see those loopholes closed. I thank TRENT for hanging in there or we would not have achieved that. Businesses 

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around the country will benefit from lower prices on prescription drugs for their employees as a result of your leadership. Seniors will benefit as a result. I thank you for stepping up at the time when it was not easy to do. 

It has been a great pleasure to work with you in many different ways. I have to say also, always to me you have been 

a southern gentleman. I, too, never thought in my wildest 

dreams I would wear a seersucker suit. Along with Senator 

Snowe, and with the help of Senator Feinstein—who chided 

and pushed and persuaded all of us, and helped all of us be 

able to find seersucker suits—we have all joined and had a 

great time every year being able to come together for that 

great picture I have in my office. 

I know you will be missed on both sides of the aisle. We 

understand that you understand the process. I know your 

book ‘‘Herding Cats’’ reflects what in fact it is oftentimes in 

the legislative process. But you have been able to do the 

herding and been able to get people to come together, and 

you will be known for being an extraordinary leader in the 

Senate. 

I rise today to congratulate you, to thank you, to wish you 

and Tricia and your children and grandchildren nothing but 

happiness as you move to the next chapter of what I am sure 

will continue to be a very meaningful and exciting life. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from 

Utah. 

Mr. BENNETT. Madam President, one of the words we 

often hear as people talk about relationships is the word 

mentor. It is always assumed that the older person mentors 

the younger person. The record is clear that I am 8 years 

older than TRENT LOTT. But the record is also clear that he 

has acted as my mentor as I have come here to the Senate. 

We have all heard about his legislative accomplishments. 

I wish to pick out three items of my relationship with TRENT

where he has taught me things that have been valuable. 

First, when TRENT ran for the whip position, I worked for 

the election of Alan Simpson. I didn’t know TRENT all that 

well. Alan and I were friends from long ago. We first met up 

in the family gallery when our respective fathers were being 

sworn in as Senators. He introduced me to his child bride 

and I introduced him to mine. He made the Simpson-like 

comment. He said: ‘‘Having married younger women, this 

means in our older age we will smell perfume instead of liniment.’’ 

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After I got to know TRENT and appreciate his abilities, I 

made the comment, ‘‘If I had known you to have been as 

good a leader as you are, I would have voted for you in the 

beginning.’’ He corrected me and said, ‘‘No, your relationship 

with Simpson was so strong and so personal that you should 

have supported him, and I didn’t even ask you because I respected that relationship.’’ 

That was a very important thing he taught me there about 

relationships and commitments that I have tried to remember ever since. 

Second, as a freshman Senator who was sure I understood 

the institution, I moved out aggressively in a variety of circumstances and suddenly found myself caught in a vise between two very senior, very powerful, very opinionated Senators, whose names I shall not disclose. 

I didn’t know what to do. Whatever I did, I would offend 

one or the other and both of them had reputations for very 

long memories and determination to take revenge. In my moment of great panic, I called TRENT and laid this before him, 

more or less seeking some kind of balm or salve, and received instead a solution. He, with his expertise, knew how 

to maneuver between these two giants, and what was in 

some ways my most difficult day in the Senate became, with 

TRENT’s help, one of the better days I experienced in the 

Senate, as I watched these two clash together, with me on 

the sidelines, staying out of it because of his help. He taught 

me again: Don’t get yourself into that kind of problem in the 

first place. 

Finally, emotions run high around here. People get all 

wrapped up in the issue of the time. We had one of those, 

where some members of the Republican conference deserted 

leadership and there was a sense of great anger. Some people were talking about retaliation. TRENT taught me this 

great truth. He said: ‘‘The most important vote is the next 

one. Do not allow your concern over that vote to damage 

your relationship that you may need on the next vote.’’ 

Those among us of the Republican conference who wanted 

to retaliate—TRENT did his best to say to them: ‘‘No, don’t 

carry that grudge, don’t carry that forward. Understand, the 

most important vote is the next vote.’’ 

Those were the three things I wanted to highlight that I 

have learned from TRENT. But I want to point out that he 

himself, when the blow fell—as Senator Specter has said, in 

a vastly overblown reaction to an appropriate comment—he 

himself demonstrated in his own life his commitment to 

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those principles. He did not allow anything that had happened as a result of that to destroy his relationships, the 

friendships he had built. Even if there were some who could 

have been attacked for having abandoned him, he did not attack those relationships. He did not show any desire to retaliate. He may have felt it. Indeed, he would not be human 

if he didn’t. But he came back to the Senate with his optimism showing, his determination to stay calm, his determination to stay engaged and not allow a sense of revenge 

or retaliation to take him over. That, of course, served him 

in good stead when he was returned to leadership by the 

same massive majority that he had when he took the whip’s 

job the first time—by 1 vote. 

This is a man we shall miss. This is a man who has taught 

us a lot. This is a man who served as a mentor to me, and 

because of him, I now own a pair of white bucks. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from 

Tennessee is recognized. 

Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, once upon a time in 

spring 1968, even before Ted Stevens was a Senator, a young 

man with carefully combed hair came from Pascagoula, MS, 

to Washington, DC, and he moved into a spare bedroom in 

the house at the corner of Klingle Street and Foxhall Road. 

It was almost 40 years ago. I remember it very well, because I was already in that house along with four other single young men in our twenties. Our new resident from Mississippi was different in several ways from the rest of us. No. 

1, we were single, and he was married. Tricia and Chet, then 

a baby, were still back in Mississippi. No. 2, he was a Democrat and we were Republicans. But at that age, that did not 

matter to us very much. 

And No. 3 is—and this is hard for anyone in the Chamber 

to imagine, for me even to say—I remember him as quiet. 

Maybe it was because he did not stay long, because he remembers that we were noisy—playing the piano, staying up 

late, having parties, and then getting up at 6 a.m. and going 

to work. 

So for whatever reason, maybe because of those differences, our friend from Mississippi moved out after a few 

months. Tricia and Chet came to Washington, I believe, and 

he continued his job with Mr. Colmer, the Congressman from 

the area where he grew up. 

My other roommate was Glover Robert, who was from 

Gulfport, who had introduced us all to TRENT, and who later 

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was TRENT’s campaign manager in his race for Congress. I 

can remember Glover saying at that time that everybody in 

Mississippi knows TRENT LOTT is one of two young men in 

Mississippi who is going to grow up to be Governor of Mississippi. The other young man who Glover talked about was 

Thad Cochran, who we also met that year in 1968. At that 

time he was also a Democrat. Neither of them grew up to be 

Governor of Mississippi, at least not yet. But one became the 

chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and one became 

the leader of the Senate, and both are our friends. 

Now TRENT, after 35 years in Congress, is moving on to 

the next chapter of his life. I understand his decision. We 

talked about it. As far as anyone can say from outside the 

Lott family, it looks like a wise decision on a personal basis. 

But on a personal basis too, I am truly sorry to see him go, 

because over those 40 years, we have been in different places 

most of the time—I mostly in Tennessee, he mostly here— 

but we have stayed in touch in many different ways. 

When our roommates got together at the Governor’s mansion in Tennessee in the 1980s, I remember reading to the 

group after dinner from a book on manners. When I came to 

the Senate, I received a book, ‘‘George Washington’s Rules of 

Civility,’’ that was inscribed, ‘‘To my friend, Senator Alexander, the history professor, TRENT LOTT.’’ 

In 1986, I became a little bit exasperated with the House 

Republicans from a distance and I called up TRENT and said: 

‘‘What is going on? Are we Republican Governors and the 

House Republicans on the same page?’’ He introduced me to 

Newt Gingrich, and a group of the Governors and the Republican leaders in the House met at Blackberry Farm in the 

Smoky Mountains for a whole weekend and had a terrific 

weekend, in terms of charting the future course for our 

party. 

A few years later I came to Washington as Education Secretary and immediately turned to TRENT—who was always 

in some sort of leadership position, usually some different 

one—for advice and support. 

Those who follow the Senate know that TRENT has, along 

the way, taught all of us various lessons. He has especially 

taught me lessons, particularly how to count. It is because 

of TRENT LOTT that a year ago, it was necessary for me to 

write 27 thank-you notes for 24 votes in the race for whip. 

I have worked hard to learn my lesson from him over a period of time. 

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About 6 weeks ago, TRENT and Tricia invited my wife 

Honey, me, and the Greggs down to their home outside Jackson. We spent a weekend. It was following up a nice weekend we had had in the mountains of Tennessee sometime 

earlier. Most of the remarks today about TRENT have been 

about TRENT in Washington, DC, and they are all very appropriate. And here in the Senate we often think of TRENT

as having the wiliness of Lyndon Johnson and the joyfulness 

of Hubert Humphrey—two other great figures in Senate history—but it is more fun to see him in Mississippi. Going 

through the airport, every single woman in the airport in 

Mississippi wanted to talk to TRENT LOTT, and he talked to 

them all of the way through the Jackson Airport. 

To see the number of buildings in Mississippi already 

named after him—and he is not even dead yet—and to see 

the beautiful home they have outside Jackson, MS, is something to behold. Judd and I counted five different tractors in 

his garage, and we rode in most of them. We should have 

known, or I should have known, from seeing how happy he 

is there and how much he loves to do this, that his mind was 

probably more on becoming farmer of the year in Mississippi 

than it was on spending another 5 or 10 years in the Senate. 

TRENT, transitions—I have had a number of them—are not 

always easy, but they have been for me the most rewarding 

parts of my life. I believe for you and Tricia this next transition will be the same—liberating, not entirely easy, but perhaps the most rewarding period of your life. 

I tried to think of some words that would describe it, and 

I thought of words that better describe the Smoky Mountains 

where I am from than the Mississippi area where you are 

from. But the thought still applies. They are words from 

Emily Dickinson, which say: 

Goodbye to the life I used to lead and the friends I used to know. Now 

kiss these hills just once for me, for I am ready to go. 

It is a reassurance for us to know that you are not going 

far. I hope it will be reassuring to you to know that you are 

not going far, that your old friends are still here and we are 

still your friends. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from 

Vermont. 

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, let me note—it has probably been noted here on the floor already—that it is so much 

nicer to hear your eulogy in person than afterward. In many 

ways you know it is more heartfelt because the Senator from 

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Mississippi is here and has the ability to correct it, something he would not have 40 years or so from now when he 

might rejoin his Maker. 

I think, though, about TRENT LOTT. TRENT is one of those 

Senators who has great respect on both sides of the aisle. I 

think it is because he is from the old school. I do not want 

to damage his reputation in Mississippi to have one of the 

more liberal members of the opposite party praise him, but 

I do it easily. Because, as I told TRENT within an hour after 

he made his announcement—we were on the phone, and I 

told him that one of the things I liked about him is he followed that rule Mike Mansfield told me my first week here 

in the Senate: Senators should always keep their word. 

Every time Senator LOTT and I have worked together, to find 

our way, sometimes through a very tangled parliamentary or 

legislative morass, we got through because I could always 

count on him once he made a commitment to keep his word 

and he would keep his commitment. I think he knows I did 

the same with him. As Senator Mansfield tried to instruct all 

of us, those of us who were here at that time, this is the 

mark of what a real Senator should do. Because while you 

may disagree on one issue, you are going to be allies the next 

day on a different issue. And that is what makes the Senate 

work best. 

Marcelle and I have had the opportunity to travel with 

TRENT and Trish, and I must admit this is a great deal of 

fun. I think he even has some of the photographs I have 

given him from some of those trips. As they have told me in 

Vermont, on occasions when he came up, a number of 

Vermonters came up to me afterward and said, ‘‘Boy, the 

Senator from Mississippi is really good looking.’’ I said: 

‘‘Well, yes, he is.’’ ‘‘He has got all of that hair.’’ I said, ‘‘Yes, 

he does.’’ And they said, ‘‘He can really sing well.’’ And I 

said, ‘‘I do not need to talk with you anymore.’’ 

They would go on. Those trips—and I will close with this— 

one of the reasons why more of us should take such trips, bipartisan trips, is you find that you have so many things in 

common. Trish and Marcelle would talk about children and 

their hopes for them growing up. All four of us would talk 

about the difficulties in maintaining homes in our home 

State and in Washington, and doing it if you are not 

wealthy. We would talk about those things where we felt the 

Senate should come together. We talked about our backgrounds, our faith, our hopes for this country. I think somebody listening in would have been hard pressed to know 

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which one was the Democrat and which one was the Republican. 

I have served all these years with TRENT LOTT. I will miss 

him as a colleague, but I might say I will miss him especially 

as a friend. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Casey). The Senator from 

Texas. 

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, my State, like many States, 

has produced some political giants: Lyndon Johnson, Phil 

Gramm, John Tower, many great political figures. But one I 

recall specifically: Bob Bullock, a Democratic Lieutenant 

Governor in what was generally considered the most powerful political position in State government. I remember one 

time he said that there are two types of politicians: one who 

wants to be somebody, and the other who wants to do something. Most decidedly, TRENT LOTT is of the latter category. 

I have heard comments today about his great ability to 

compromise. I think compromise is in and of itself underrated. Compromising with principle, looking for common 

ground while staying true to your convictions and your principles, is an art and one that TRENT LOTT has practiced 

throughout his congressional career. 

Since the foundation of our Nation, Congress has been the 

workplace for many men and women who have come from 

modest beginnings and who took it upon themselves to 

shoulder great responsibilities. They have undertaken the 

noble yet difficult work of governing in the best interests of 

the American people. This has always been the defining 

characteristic of our country. In Lincoln’s phrase: ‘‘Government of the people, by the people, and for the people.’’ This 

year, after more than three decades of public service in the 

Congress, we bid farewell to a man who has embodied this 

notion. 

TRENT LOTT from Pascagoula, MS, always took to heart his 

responsibility as a representative of the State, and he has 

never lost touch with his roots. We have heard reference to 

his memoir, ‘‘Herding Cats,’’ which I told him, after reading 

it: ‘‘It was surprisingly good.’’ He said: ‘‘Why were you surprised?’’ I said: ‘‘I am not going to go there. It was surprisingly good.’’ 

But he answered one particular critic in his memoirs by 

saying: ‘‘I ascended to the leadership of the Senate because 

I was from the Magnolia State.’’ I found this to be a telling 

statement about a man who not only represented his State’s 

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interests but sought to represent its character and was literally impelled to public service. 

As we know, he served Mississippi in both the House of 

Representatives and the Senate, in the majority and minority, through the administrations of seven Presidents. He has 

experienced just about everything a life in politics has to 

offer—the good, the bad, and the ugly. When his beloved 

home State was hit by a natural disaster named Katrina, he 

made it his top priority to see that the people of Mississippi 

were shepherded through the most difficult of times. 

Throughout his life and service, Senator LOTT has served his 

home of Mississippi with unflinching resolve. His principled 

and dedicated service has earned him a national reputation 

as a strong leader. His fervent desire to solve some of our 

Nation’s biggest problems has put him at the forefront of national politics. 

TRENT has always sought to find common ground on important legislation, and there is no doubt in my mind his absence will be profoundly felt. But as many have already observed, Senator LOTT has paid his dues. He has done his 

time. He has served his State. He served his country. So 

while it is with sadness we say goodbye to a colleague and 

a statesman and, most important, a friend, it is with great 

joy that I wish Senator LOTT the best of luck in the next 

stage of his life. 

TRENT, thank you for everything you have done for our 

country, for the Senate, this great institution, and for everything I have learned from your example. I know you and 

Tricia have a bright future ahead, and I know you especially 

look forward to spending more time with your children and 

grandchildren. We wish you the very best. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado. 

Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I rise to say a few words 

about the retirement of my friend and colleague, Senator 

TRENT LOTT. TRENT has visited Colorado. However, he complained he was kept busy and couldn’t appreciate Colorado’s 

vistas. Now he will have time to appreciate the great State 

of Colorado, and I invite him to revisit us because he will 

have time. 

TRENT was majority leader when I came to the Senate in 

1997. A large percentage of the views I have of how this body 

should work and how we can best come together, despite differences of opinions and goals, was formed watching TRENT

LOTT shepherd through legislation organizing 100 competing 

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agendas into a manageable schedule. I have always felt we 

were sent here by the people of our States to solve problems 

and achieve results. I know ideas can and do vary as to what 

solutions are or even what the problems are. That makes the 

end goal of finding solutions most of us can agree to that 

much harder and the skills required to do so much more 

rare. The Senate has been lucky to have TRENT in our midst 

as we worked through the pressing issues of these times. 

It should be noted TRENT has done his work here, all the 

while remaining a genuinely decent man and a true gentleman. He is, everyone agrees, a fundamentally nice person 

who enjoys the human contact and personal relationships 

that come with his position. He enjoys working on behalf of 

the people of Mississippi. He has represented their interests 

well, and they have made it clear they approve of his service. 

TRENT attended Pascagoula Junior High, which is now 

called Trent Lott Middle School. He is truly an example for 

future Americans to emulate. I join my colleagues in thanking TRENT and his wife Tricia for their service and thank 

God for providing him to public service in the Senate, where 

I personally know of his service. 

I yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana. 

Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, I rise to pay great tribute to 

TRENT LOTT. Similar to so many on the floor, I felt compelled, had a great desire to come to the floor because of my 

deep respect and affection for TRENT. I mean that. 

It is probably a great testament to TRENT, given those very 

deep and sincere feelings of mine, to remember how we were 

introduced politically. I was running for Congress and he endorsed my opponent. For a lot of people, it would have meant 

that person would never have built a strong working relationship with the other or it would have taken a long time. 

For TRENT, it took about 5 minutes. After I won, he called 

me and congratulated me and explained that my opponent 

was a former colleague of his and a friend and he felt loyalty 

and affection for the person. But the past was the past and 

the future was the future and he wanted to build that same 

friendship and sense of loyalty with me. So that was that. 

It wasn’t just words. He put that into action and made it 

perfectly clear from the beginning he was sincere. That is 

TRENT. That is probably the first and one of the most important lessons he imparted to me. 

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I will always feel privileged to have learned other lessons 

in two particular settings. First, I was honored to be asked 

to join his whip team over the last couple years, and I did 

so. I have learned an enormous amount as a member of that 

team. I will always remember his being very forthcoming in 

asking me for advice and ideas and what I thought about 

this or that, all the while paying compliments about my insight into things. I will remember it not because any of those 

compliments were true but because it showed his spirit and 

effectiveness at including people, getting the best out of them 

and bringing folks together. 

As a member of his whip team, I will also always remember and appreciate his taking me under his wing and trying 

to help me develop relationships and friendships with other 

Senators more and, as he would put it, be able to schmooze 

more effectively. I hope, TRENT, you continue your work with 

me as you join the private sector, because obviously we still 

have a long way to go. But I appreciate the spirit of that 

work. 

The second setting that is so important, in terms of my 

personal experience with TRENT is, of course, the experience 

of Katrina and dealing with that horrible hurricane. There 

couldn’t have been better allies in terms of our recovery work 

than TRENT and Thad. I will always be deeply indebted to 

them for all their work on behalf of the entire gulf coast. In 

south Louisiana, occasionally in the press there would be 

some story or comment resentful toward Mississippi in terms 

of the recovery, saying they got this per capita and we got 

this; we didn’t do well enough. I would always explain that, 

boy, they got it exactly wrong. Because our best allies 

throughout all that horrible experience were TRENT and 

Thad. Were it not for them, we would not have fared nearly 

as well. I will be the first to admit that. I thank them on behalf of my State for their tireless efforts on behalf of the entire gulf coast. 

So, TRENT, I join everyone in wishing you and Tricia and 

your family all the best. You deserve it. I know this is not 

the end of anything. It is the beginning of new great things. 

I look forward to our continuing tutorials on schmoozing and 

maybe even getting me to wear a seersucker suit someday. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia. 

Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, those of us who come 

from the South take great pride in our heritage. Part of the 

heritage we are very proud of is the fact that whether it is 

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the State of Mississippi that sent John Stennis and Senator 

Eastland to this body or whether it is my State that sent 

Richard Russell and Paul Coverdell and Sam Nunn, we are 

very proud of the folks we have sent to the Senate. Come 

January, we are going to add the name of TRENT LOTT to 

those great men who have represented the South in this 

body. 

When I think of TRENT LOTT, I think about something that 

a lot of people probably can’t relate to, but he and Thad will 

directly relate to. TRENT is the epitome of the genteel southern gentleman, married to a beautiful belle with whom he 

went to college. 

In the fall in Oxford, MS, there is a special occasion that 

takes place on football Saturday afternoons. They have a 

place down there called the Grove that is unlike any other 

area I have ever been to on any football afternoon. The 

Grove is what one might think. It is truly a beautiful spot 

with trees and green grass. All the University of Mississippi 

football fans gather in the Grove and, instead of backing up 

SUVs and pickup trucks with beer kegs on the back, as we 

do in Athens, they pull out silver goblets, white tablecloths, 

chandeliers on the table, and they enjoy a great festive atmosphere. TRENT LOTT brings that same gentility, that same 

mannerism of our part of the world to the Senate. 

A couple of quick personal anecdotes that somewhat relate 

to that. TRENT has a way of being able to look at somebody 

and, whether it is trying to figure out how they are going to 

vote, what they are feeling like that day or whatever it may 

be, boy, he can get right to the heart of it. I am reminded 

of when I was thinking about running for the Senate back 

in 2002. TRENT came to me in the summer of that year. I remember this conversation like it was yesterday. 

He said: ‘‘Look, I know they are working on you to run for 

the Senate. You and I have been good friends for several 

years during your House days. I don’t think you have got the 

fire in the belly. Unless you do, you better not run.’’ 

He was exactly right. About 6 months after that, he came 

to me again and said: ‘‘I have heard you speak more and 

more about what you want to do, and you have the fire in 

the belly. It is the time to run.’’ 

The other anecdote I will never forget about TRENT is that 

during my campaign, we had a farm bill we had finished in 

conference. It was a late farm bill that year. It was in early 

spring 2002. I needed to be all over my State campaigning. 

Unfortunately, I got stuck in Washington for a weekend with 

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the farm bill conference. TRENT was coming to Georgia to 

campaign for me. I told him: ‘‘TRENT, I am not going to be 

able to go. I feel bad about this.’’ He said: ‘‘Don’t worry about 

it. Stay here and do what you have to do. Julianne and I will 

take care of this.’’ 

So he went to Georgia, spent the whole day traveling 

around to five different events in different parts of my State, 

and drew big crowds because he was TRENT LOTT. 

He called me up on Sunday morning when he got back and 

said: ‘‘Saxby, I got this thing figured out. I know how you are 

going to win this campaign. What you need to do is stay in 

Washington and let Julianne and me take care of that campaign for you.’’ 

TRENT is one of those people whom those of us junior Senators looked up to from day one. As I think back on my class, 

Lindsey and a couple of us served in the House together, 

where we got to know TRENT. But whether it was Elizabeth 

or Norm or Lamar or others in our class, from day one, 

TRENT has been one of those individuals whom we admired 

so greatly because of his knowledge of the institution, because of his ability to come to you when you knew you were 

struggling with an issue. He could talk to you for 2 minutes 

and all of a sudden you would feel better about whatever it 

was you were struggling with. That is the kind of person 

TRENT LOTT is and that is the part about TRENT LOTT I truly 

am going to miss. 

His office happens to be right around the corner from 

mine. There is many a day we will be on the elevator together going back after a vote. He will start picking at me 

about something. He will say: ‘‘I know you have been worried 

about something. What is it?’’ Invariably, again, he is right. 

He has had the ability to say a couple words that all of a 

sudden changed my perspective on whatever the issue was 

I was struggling with. 

So, TRENT, we are mighty proud of you as a southerner. 

We are mighty proud of you as an American. And we are certainly mighty proud of you as a Member of this body. You 

are truly going to be missed. But I treasure the last 13 years 

of having the privilege of serving with you in my House days 

as well as my Senate days. 

God bless you, and may God bless your family. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama. 

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I appreciate so many of 

these remarks. I would like to say a few things about TRENT. 

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I think TRENT’s strength, first, is his roots. He knows 

where he came from. He knows how he was raised. He is 

loyal to his constituents and his people. He loves the people 

of Mississippi, and they love him. If he chose to move to Alabama and run for the Senate, he would be a winner there. 

He is well known in our State. He used to have a television 

program with the three Congressmen from that region, the 

‘‘Gulf Coast Report.’’ It went for 35 years and just ended last 

year. He started that with former Congressman Jack Edwards of Mobile and it had such a tremendous following. In 

fact, it was front page news in Alabama when TRENT LOTT

announced his retirement. 

Second, TRENT was at the forefront of what clearly has 

been a historical movement of mainstream Republican 

thought in the South. It has been a trend that has been 

steady and strong, and has shaped the Nation. It ended up 

helping provide a Republican majority in the House and the 

Senate to accomplish things that would not have been accomplished otherwise. 

I am not that much younger than TRENT, but I remember 

when he made that fateful decision to run for Congress as 

a Republican in Mississippi. Those of us who were following 

politics at that time knew his decision was an important one. 

We young Republicans, throughout the South in particular, 

all watched with tremendous interest to see whether he 

would be successful. He and Thad both were successful that 

year. It was a movement of significant historical importance 

because many have followed his path. 

TRENT has had an incredibly wise way of dealing with people. I remember sitting right over here, having not been here 

long, and a very important bill was on the floor. A very critical amendment was being decided, an amendment, if it had 

gone the wrong way, could have derailed the entire legislation. I had reasons to vote against it, but I had not made up 

my mind. There were a lot of reasons I could have voted 

against it. Some good friends were on the other side. He sidled up to me, and all he said was: ‘‘Look at old Phil. This 

is his first big bill on the floor. It would be a shame to see 

him lose that bill.’’ 

(Laughter.) 

He did not say any more. Those simple words touched my 

concerns, and I thought about them for a day and a half before I decided to vote with Phil and TRENT. He had a gift to 

sense your concerns, to know where Members were. 

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I will mention two other things I think were of historical 

importance. 

We could not agree on how to handle the impeachment. 

TRENT was the leader of the Senate. The Senate was supposed to try the House charge of impeachment. The Chief 

Justice who sat back here off the floor was asked: ‘‘What procedures shall we use, Mr. Chief Justice?’’ He leaned back in 

his chair and said: ‘‘Well, it is the Senate’s job to figure out 

how to conduct the impeachment trial. That is what the Constitution says. It is your problem, not mine.’’ And still we 

could not agree. 

TRENT thought and worried and did everything he could 

possibly do to reach an agreement on procedure. That agreement could not be reached, so he took an unprecedented step 

of calling the Senate together in the Old Senate Chamber. 

Do you remember that? That is when we had, what TRENT

called, the great epiphany when Ted Kennedy and Phil 

Gramm spoke up and an agreement was reached. We did not 

embarrass the Senate. We did our duty. We followed through 

successfully. We met the constitutional responsibility we 

had. He was creative in trying to impress on us the importance of reaching that decision. 

I can think of another one from the Republican side. In our 

movement in 2001 to reduce taxes the vote was close, with 

every single vote critical. Senator Domenici was the Budget 

chairman at that time, and I believe the critical vote was 

over the budget reconciliation. TRENT called a meeting of the 

Republicans in the Senate Chaplain’s Office. 

(Laughter.) 

The room has a high arched ceiling—so I guess we had a 

prayer meeting up there. You could look down the Mall and 

see the Washington Monument. Such a location had never 

been used before or since. There were a couple of votes 

TRENT had to have. He knew he could count votes. Maybe 

there was just one vote he had to have. So that meeting was 

orchestrated carefully, and it worked. Our tax cuts passed, 

with every vote crucial and ultimately on the floor the vote 

was a 50–50 tie, with the Vice President breaking the tie. 

For 10 years, however, we will have had tremendous tax relief for Americans. It has surged our economy. 

Without a truly skilled leader in both those instances, this 

Senate could have gone the other way and the history of our 

country could have turned out quite differently. 

I have enjoyed my friendship with TRENT LOTT and Tricia. 

I think he is a fabulous leader who has done remarkable 

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things for our country. It has been an honor to serve with 

him. 

If you come to Alabama, you can have my Senate seat, 

TRENT. 

Thank you, Mr. President. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia. 

Mr. ISAKSON. TRENT, this is the time, on an occasion like 

this, where somebody always rises and says: Whatever could 

be said about this subject has been said, it is just that everybody has not said it yet. But in this case, it is not true. We 

have only been talking for 2 hours 7 minutes. It would take 

a lot longer than 2 hours 7 minutes to say all the things that 

could be said about your distinguished career. 

But there are two things I wish to say, the two most powerful words in the English language: Thank you—first, on 

behalf of the late Paul Coverdell and his lovely wife Nancy. 

I will never forget in March 1993 meeting Paul—as I had 

for 20 years, as I led the Georgia House and he led the Georgia Senate—at the International House of Pancakes in 

Buckhead at 7 a.m., his first time back in Georgia after 

being sworn in. I had him tell me about the place known as 

the Senate. All he could talk about was TRENT LOTT. He 

said: ‘‘Johnny, TRENT LOTT has the two l’s. He can legislate 

and he can lead.’’ 

So on behalf of Paul, whose legislation—the Coverdell 

Education Act, and many other things—was done here, 

thank you for what you did for him. I know you always have 

shared with me how much you appreciate what ‘‘Mikey’’ did 

for you. 

But, second, TRENT, thank you on my behalf. If every one 

of us in this room stood up and thought about it, we could 

take a specific incident that in our career has been accomplished that would not have happened were it not for your 

insight, your leadership, and your commitment. 

For me, it was the pension bill last year and the pensions 

of 91,000 Delta employees in Georgia. We got down to the 

lick log, as they say in Georgia, on the last day, in the last 

hour before the August recess. Bankruptcy was pending, and 

it was almost over. Thanks to your tenacity on Finance and 

your care and your willingness to be able to do what you did, 

that legislation passed. I got the credit, but the benefit belongs to you. 

Thank you for what you have done for all of us. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota. 

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Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to my 

friend, my encourager, my mentor. Mae West once said: 

‘‘Marriage is a fine institution, but I am not ready yet for an 

institution.’’ 

Reflecting on the comments of my colleague from Georgia, 

I think when we get here, I don’t know how many of us are 

ready for the institution. What I had—and what I know my 

other colleagues had—in TRENT LOTT was somebody who put 

his arm around you. He shared with you the importance of 

your word is your bond, the importance of family—more than 

things you can read in a rules manual or a procedural manual but the history of the heart and the soul of the institution, embodied by my friend and my encourager, TRENT

LOTT. 

This Chamber has been home to some of the great statesmen in American history. I say this not with hyperbole or superlatives, but I say it as a matter of established fact: that 

among the great statesmen in the history of this country, one 

is sitting in this Chamber today, who will move on to do 

other great things, I am sure. 

Similar to me, he governs from the bank of the Mississippi. It is a little colder where I come from, the State I 

represent. But he is an outstanding representative of the 

Heartland, the heart and soul of America. 

On my way to the Senate complex, as I walk through, I 

sometimes stop and take a look at the words that are written 

in one of the office buildings by Everett McKinley Dirksen. 

I wish to read these words because this is inscribed on the 

wall: ‘‘His unerring sense of the possible that enabled him to 

know when to compromise; by such men are our freedoms retained.’’ Such a tribute belongs to TRENT LOTT. 

Freedom requires that we all express our views strongly 

and to do that on the floor. But in the end, you need those 

who can knit together, who can craft legislation. We all have 

stories of being in TRENT’s presence and watching him do 

that. He truly is today’s current master of the Senate. He 

understands the art of what it takes to get things done. 

Some of us have said the worst sin in politics is not knowing how to count. If that is the case, then TRENT is pure as 

the driven snow because he knows how to count. And not 

only knowing how to count, what he does is use that in a 

way to kind of guide us to ultimately get things done. That 

is what it is about. 

I believe what we are suffering from in this country today 

is a deep partisan divide. So the American public looks at 

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and wonders about our ability to do what we have been 

elected to do. If there is somebody today who has the antidote to that infection, it is TRENT LOTT. Because in the end, 

that is what he strives to do. 

We all have our stories. I served on the Conference Committee on Homeland Security to reshape the way in which 

we do intelligence, to look at somehow getting rid of the silos 

that were problematic on 9/11 that the 9/11 Commission 

talked about, and to figure out a way to put together a system of gathering intelligence which works together, is seamless. 

I watched time and again, when it seemed like we were 

not going to get it done—and it was not, by the way, partisan; it was not just Democrat versus Republican; sometimes it was House versus Senate—and I can tell you, almost 

every time, on every occasion—and Chairman Collins could 

tell you the same thing, and Ranking Member Lieberman 

could tell you the same thing—at the moment you needed 

that, where it seemed like it was not going to get done, the 

voice that arose was the gentleman from Pascagoula, the 

Senator from Mississippi, who would offer a little something 

that would kind of pull us back together and move us forward. In the end, we passed the bill. The Nation is better for 

it. 

I had the opportunity earlier this year to be honored with 

Senator LOTT by the Ripon Society, with the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award. That is, by the way, the progressive wing of the Republican Party. TRENT got up there, when 

he received his honor, and said: ‘‘Before I got here, I used to 

be called a conservative.’’ 

He is still a conservative, a principled conservative. But 

the reason he was recognized by the Ripon Society—and I 

think by folks regardless of what side of the aisle they are 

on, what side of the political spectrum they are on—is because of his incredible ability to find common ground, to pull 

people together. 

In Minnesota, we all know of the Scandinavian who loved 

his wife so much he almost told her. There are many in this 

institution who care so much they almost get something 

done. But TRENT LOTT is one of those who both cares so 

much and he gets things done. 

I thank the Lott family for sharing him with our Nation. 

I know the foundation of TRENT’s service is commitment to 

freedom, to faith, and to family. That is about as solid a 

foundation as one could have. That is something this firstVerDate Aug 31 2005 14:02 May 15, 2009 Jkt 040534 PO 00000 Frm 00068 Fmt 6688 Sfmt 6688 H:\DOCS\LOTT\40534.TXT CRS2 PsN: SKAYNE
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term Senator has seen, has appreciated, and carries in his 

heart. 

I thank him for his lifetime of service to all Americans. I 

ask that God continue to bless TRENT, Tricia, and the Lott 

family. 

Mr. President, I yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia. 

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, there are others seeking to 

be recognized and I shall be brief. But I think of my good 

friend in many ways, not the least of which, we are two Senators who stood in the well in kilts with our knobby knees 

showing and voted—to the astonishment of all our colleagues. 

You have helped me through the years in many ways, particularly on the defense bill. You have served on the committee. When that bill was dogged, disparaged, cast aside, 

you always were there to bring it back, sometimes six or 

seven times in the course of the spring, until we were able 

to pass it, always, always being guided by your heart and 

your concern for the men and women who wear the uniforms 

and their families. 

But I wish to speak of you in a very personal way. We had 

our differences in elections. Like Bob Bennett, I was on the 

Alan Simpson team. I remember sitting in your office discussing that and voting for Simpson. You won, but you never 

held it against me or Bob or others. That is the way you 

managed this institution. 

But I think back on my own career, insignificant as it is, 

and I reflect on the fact that I have been privileged to serve 

with 271 Senators in the 29 years that I have been privileged to serve. My dear friend Thad Cochran and I have that 

record together as we came to the Senate in fall 1968. 

What I didn’t know about the Senate—and surprisingly, I 

had the opportunity as Secretary of the Navy to come here 

for 5 years and testify many times and to come and respond 

to the calls of Members who, for whatever reason, wanted to 

talk to the Secretary about their particular problems—I 

never realized how all-consuming this body would be in 

terms of it becomes your family, they are your friends, and 

those bonds continuously grow year after year. When one 

Member is celebrating exhilaration, accomplishments, be 

they on the floor of the Senate or be they in private life or 

whatever the case may be—winning an election, as Thad and 

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ments. But you also share the moments when a Member is 

faced with despair. 

They often say the fall may be painful, but the road back 

is doubly challenging. I have watched you in those situations, and the strength that you and your lovely wife exhibited has been instilled in me. I pray to God that I never face 

some of the challenges that faced you: the devastation 

brought to your State, your graceful step down from the 

leadership, and your comeback, your magnificent and courageous restoration of your career in full—I say to you, Senator—in full. You made a tough decision, as I have done, not 

to return to this body and to our dear friends, but you did 

it on solid ground, and all of us join in our hopes that in your 

next challenge in life, you will make a contribution to this 

country you love, to the State you love, and to the Senate 

you love. Thank you for your friendship. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida is 

recognized. 

Mr. MARTINEZ. Mr. President, this statement comes from 

the back row but no less love from us back benchers. Let me 

tell you the Senate career that, for me, now completes 3 

years has known no better friend than TRENT LOTT. I have 

certainly appreciated your willingness to mentor me. I was 

astonished to hear that Bob Bennett considered you a mentor. I thought you did that for those of us who have just gotten here but, frankly, it looks as though you mentored about 

everybody in the Senate. So I consider myself very fortunate. 

I think back to when we first met. I was first here in 

Washington as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and TRENT was the leader, the Republican leader of 

the Senate. We had occasion to meet, and shortly thereafter 

we were building a Habitat for Humanity house on a cold 

day, much like today, and I got the opportunity to know him 

on a more personal level and got to know Tricia as well. That 

has only endured and continued. I also very much appreciated you shepherding my nomination as HUD Secretary 

through the Senate, which I know was no easy feat, but you 

have my gratitude, in fact, then and now. 

But, to me, as I look at my short career in the Senate, 

there was no issue that punctuates my time more than the 

very divisive issue of immigration. You didn’t need to get involved in that—you really didn’t. I know a lot of people in 

Mississippi probably wish you hadn’t. The fact is, you saw a 

problem that needed solving. I remember you saying: ‘‘Is 

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[ 51 ] 

there a problem?’’ In fact, there was. And does this bill improve the situation from what it is today? And you said that 

it did, which I agreed with. Then you went on about trying 

to solve the problem, which is a quality that I greatly admire. You were moving the ball forward. You were trying to 

do what in your heart you felt was best for the Nation and 

something that would, in fact, move the ball forward and get 

it done. So you courageously worked, I know, sometimes 

against the grain. But I, for one, would rather have no one 

in a foxhole than TRENT LOTT during difficult times when 

they are lobbing them in at you. 

So I very much appreciated the fact that you taught me a 

great deal in that difficult time, but also throughout my time 

in the Senate. I very much thank you for taking an interest 

in me and in my career, and I very much thank you for what 

you have done for our Nation and for your State. 

As I look forward, my Senate career will be diminished by 

not having the opportunity to continue to work and learn 

from you, but I am grateful for the time I have had and what 

I have learned by your side. Thank you very much for your 

service and all the best to you and Tricia. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico is recognized. 

Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, let me first say of Senator 

LOTT I must make a slight confession. You know I am leaving next year, and one of the reasons I am leaving is because 

I have an ailment that has an impact on my brain. I say that 

in all honesty. I already told the whole world that. The point 

of that is I have difficulty remembering some things. I still 

am a pretty good Senator, so nobody is fighting about that. 

I just know that you and I have gone through some incredible legal situations, legislative situations, and I am trying 

to pull them up now in the next few minutes just to share 

them with you and to share them with everybody here. 

I have been here 36 years, which is a little bit longer than 

TRENT, and that is six elections. You must know that I was 

in the middle of a lot of things or I couldn’t have been here 

36 years. I am not a back bencher or an under the tabler. 

I am where the action is, and I lucked out on the committee 

that did a lot of exciting things. 

One of the things TRENT LOTT has taught me about leadership is that it is quiet. It takes place without you knowing 

it is happening. That is what you did. When we had to put 

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onciliation tax bill, which was one of the most monumental 

acts, and we had to use that Budget Act drafted by the distinguished Senator Byrd and he didn’t quite think we would 

be able to use it the way we did, and we had that battle and 

we won that on a vote, then we were using it to reconcile tax 

cuts for America. It is hard to explain, when you would get 

everybody around and then you would say: ‘‘We are almost 

there, but we are not there. And here I am, I have been 

working on it forever, and we have this very unique process, 

and we just have to get the votes. We can’t come back a second time on this kind of thing. We will get killed. It has to 

go right now.’’ He would say we are one vote short or two, 

and you just knew that it was going to happen. He knew 

what was there, and when he would tell us to go, we would 

go, and sure enough, that is how it happened. 

So I have had all kinds of situations, from the huge balanced budget, to—I remember when we reformed welfare. 

Many of these things came from the budget process, the way 

I used it on behalf of the Senate. We put in the numbers so 

that you couldn’t avoid—if you did the welfare reform, you 

would get the protection of the budget. And I can remember 

that was an exciting day because it all of a sudden became 

bipartisan. 

Do you recall, TRENT, that it didn’t end up with just us; 

it was them. They came to the party, and so ultimately did 

the President. It was one great big party. But it was also, 

in the end, absolutely imperative that we had the reconciliation instruction that came with it that Senator LOTT—he 

wouldn’t fuss with me. He wouldn’t ask me to prove it. He 

would just say: ‘‘Is that the way it is?’’ I would tell him yes. 

And he said: ‘‘Well, that is what we will do.’’ 

It was just terrific to be a chairman of important matters 

and have a leader like TRENT who would say: ‘‘If that is what 

it takes, that is what we are going to do.’’ We didn’t redo it 

or rethink it because it got tough. Many times the path I 

chose was probably the harder one. He would say: ‘‘If that 

is the way we are going to do it, we are going to do it.’’ It 

was rather terrific to be part of a team like that. 

Now, I want to tell you, it works both ways because TRENT

LOTT was on the opposite side of something very important 

when he was over in the House. We did a Social Security 

change here to permanently fix Social Security—we 

thought—and TRENT—we heard from over in the House that 

the rocks and the stones weren’t coming from the Democrats. 

We said: ‘‘Where are they coming from?’’ 

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They said: ‘‘They are coming from TRENT LOTT.’’ 

I said: ‘‘Well, maybe I have to go over there and talk with 

him.’’ 

Then I said: ‘‘Well, maybe I won’t. Maybe I will just let 

him stew.’’ 

It was something Reagan was for and we were for, but his 

little team wasn’t for. I think they were right. I think we 

made a mistake. But we didn’t do that. We didn’t get it done. 

Do you remember, TRENT? It died. You were over there and, 

clearly, you knew what you were doing, and I don’t think you 

liked it very much because it was Republicans against Republicans. 

But we did get back together, and for the one angst we 

had many memorable pluses that are just terrific when it 

comes to thinking back on the life of the Senator over a complicated, tough period of time, when we learned how to use 

a Budget Act for innumerable things. In fact, the Budget Act 

was used, over a period of 16 years, by me, as chairman, 

with my staff, as an instrument beyond which anybody ever 

thought it would be used. It changed how we functioned as 

a Senate because it permitted us to do things through the 

reconciliation process that were absolutely impossible without that act. 

Then we got around to the balanced budget. That was the 

big monster event of our time. We had to get that done, and 

we got it done, sure enough, by reconciliation instruction 

that was really gigantic, and then sitting down in a little 

room that I use over here that I call my hideaway. I hope 

somebody puts a sign on it after I leave because that little 

room was the room wherein we negotiated, four people negotiated the balanced budget. 

TRENT was the guy who would come in every now and then 

to see if we were making headway and see if we needed help. 

It was Speaker Gingrich, myself, and somebody from the 

White House. Sure enough, when we were through, he was 

right there by our side, having participated as if he really 

knew what the budget was all about. He could put on a terrific face. He didn’t have any knowledge of what I was doing 

in there, but he just asked: ‘‘Is it going all right?’’ 

‘‘Yes, all right. Is it going all right? Fine.’’ Then he would 

walk out and have a terrific press conference. They would all 

think he really knew what this budget was about. I mean, 

I have to admit, you don’t have to tell him very much. We 

were still a long way from getting there, and he would walk 

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out and say: ‘‘They are making great headway. This is really 

moving ahead.’’ 

I would go home after having not slept for 2 weeks, and 

I would be worried that he shouldn’t be saying that because 

we were so far apart, and all he would say is: ‘‘Don’t worry. 

Just give them a little bit of optimism; we have to keep them 

alive a little bit.’’ 

I close by saying, TRENT, I know what it is to sacrifice to 

be a Senator. I did that. I came here, believe it or not, with 

my eight children—and I am going to just mention it once 

because you had it a little bit better, not much—but the pay 

was about $38,000 with eight children, and we couldn’t find 

a way to change the pay because we were scared to. That is 

the kind of suffering we went through. TRENT did the same 

in his early days. When he and his wife came here, the Senate had decided for a number of years that we did not want 

to pay ourselves a salary, which is one of the worst things 

we did. A democracy should not do that. We must pay people 

for these important jobs. 

That wasn’t what kept him going. He loved the place, and 

his family loved it, it is obvious. His son was ambitious and 

rambunctious, wanting to get ahead, and he did get ahead. 

He was able to do that while his dad served here, and that 

is truly to their betterment and a compliment. 

I say thanks for the sacrifice for serving us, for serving in 

the Senate, and for serving our Nation. It is important you 

are leaving at a time when you are strong and have a lot of 

energy left. That means you will have a second life and you 

will say to me what James Baker has said at least 10 times. 

He said: ‘‘Domenici, there is life after the Senate.’’ And I say 

that to you: ‘‘May that life be as good as the Senate or better, 

and may your family enjoy it as much as they have enjoyed 

the Senate, and may it be successful for all of them.’’ 

I yield the floor. 

Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I rise today to honor my 

friend from Mississippi, Senator TRENT LOTT. TRENT and I 

have been friends since my first year in the House in 1987. 

He was the minority whip in the House during my first 

year in Washington, DC. Now that we are in the Senate together, 20 years later he is my minority whip again. 

TRENT and I have enjoyed our time together on Wednesday 

afternoons in Chowder and Marching. My wife Mary and I 

have enjoyed spending time with TRENT and his lovely wife 

Trish. TRENT and Trish are college sweethearts and two of 

the great warming personalities in our Senate family. 

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We are proud that members of the Lott family call Kentucky home. TRENT and Trish often come to the Bluegrass 

State to see their son Chet and his family. 

He has served the people of Mississippi well for over 30 

years. After the devastation of Katrina, the gulf coast region 

had no stronger advocate than Senator LOTT. 

TRENT has risen from humble roots in his beloved 

Pascagoula to one of the top leaders in Congress. I know his 

family and the people of Mississippi are proud to call him 

one of their own. 

Mr. President, I would like to thank TRENT for his contributions to the Senate and wish him and his family well 

as they open a new chapter in their lives. 

Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a dear 

friend and colleague here in the Senate whom I have served 

with in this body as long as I have been in the Senate. Over 

the course of his 35 years in Congress, Senator TRENT LOTT

has developed a reputation for strong leadership, a bipartisan approach to legislating, and an unwavering commitment to Republican ideals and values. As you know, he is 

the only Senator to have served as whip in both the House 

of Representatives and the Senate, and it was under his 

watch as a younger legislator that our Nation saw significant 

economic recovery and increased national security in the 

1980s that had the support of those on both sides of the 

aisle. Over the years, from my time in the House of Representatives to my time here in the Senate, I have looked to 

TRENT for collaborative examples of how to accomplish important, conservative goals such as tax reform, support for 

our military, and health care transformation, to name just a 

few. He has gained a remarkable, lasting reputation for 

being able to bring competing interests to the table, to work 

out successful answers to policy challenges—a quality that is 

in increasing deficit here in Congress these days. TRENT has 

committed his congressional service to Mississippians to furthering policies that stand for America: a strong national defense, responsible and fair tax policies that encourage economic growth, and health care that puts patient needs above 

government mandates. I am especially heartened that TRENT

remains unequivocal in his belief in second amendment 

rights. 

TRENT and I have worked together over the past few years 

on the Finance Committee, and I have been pleased to have 

his support on legislation that we have moved through the 

committee, legislation that advocates tax policies that do not 

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penalize Americans for saving or investing. TRENT understands that tax structures that favor small business investments, individual saving and investing, and a financial services system unburdened by onerous regulations are critical 

keys to a healthy economy for the United States, one that 

translates into a more stable global economy. 

I have been pleased to host TRENT when he has come to 

Idaho, and I have had the pleasure of visiting the great 

State of Mississippi. TRENT’s retirement from the Senate, 

while in his best interest and in the interest of his family, 

will be a loss for the Senate and the promotion of conservative values here in Congress. 

Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a man who 

is my close friend but who, more important, is an American 

patriot and statesman. 

Today we pay tribute to TRENT LOTT, whom many, including myself, consider an institution within this great institution. 

I have known TRENT for a number of years. He has served 

as an able and well-accomplished leader, a great Republican 

whip, and a distinguished Congressman and Senator from 

the State of Mississippi. A man of impeccable character, 

TRENT always shows the utmost respect for his colleagues 

and for Congress itself, always putting the interests of the 

country before his own. TRENT LOTT has a leadership style 

that I personally admire and I believe often went underappreciated. He loves this institution, and we respect him for 

that. 

During his tenure in Congress, TRENT has been a legislative warrior fighting for commonsense solutions to our country’s most difficult challenges. He does not seek credit for his 

achievements—they are too numerous to list—even though 

he has been instrumental in shaping our great democracy. 

TRENT LOTT is a modest and honest man who has made 

the United States a better place from where it was when he 

first took the oath to serve in Congress decades ago. He is 

a true gentleman, and I have no doubt that his impressive 

legacy will live on for generations to come. 

God bless TRENT LOTT and his beautiful family. Your service to this great Nation will certainly be missed but will 

never be forgotten. 

Mr. ENSIGN. Mr. President. I rise today to celebrate the 

career of Senator TRENT LOTT—an accomplished leader, a 

great American, and a true friend. TRENT has spent more 

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than three decades in Congress tirelessly fighting for a State 

and a people he dearly loves. 

TRENT’s path in life has followed closely that of the great 

American story. His humble beginnings, as the son of a 

hard-working teacher and pipefitter, established the foundation to value an honest day’s work. These principles have remained ingrained in TRENT’s heart throughout his historic 

rise to the Senate. 

In his more than 30 years in Congress, TRENT has earned 

an immense amount of respect among his peers. Easily said, 

he knows all the ins and outs. While there are many things 

we can all learn from his legacy, the most notable of all is 

the power of compromise. Senator LOTT has proved to every 

one of us the impact reaching across the aisle can have on 

this country. It seems simpler these days to say ‘‘I am a Republican’’ or ‘‘I am a Democrat’’ and to leave it at that, but 

for TRENT LOTT reaching across the aisle and working with 

others has led to results. 

TRENT has shown all of us that we share the commonality 

of serving the American people in the Congress. We are here 

to make the best decisions we can for our country and its 

people, and bipartisan solutions are a vital component to the 

legislative process. 

When looking back at Senator LOTT’s accomplishments, 

the list is long and distinguished. In the areas of foreign policy and national defense, Senator LOTT has been a strong 

supporter of our armed services, stationed both domestically 

and abroad. He has fought hard for the security of our Nation and the protection of our servicemen and women. Likewise, he has not forgotten the commitment our veterans 

have made to this country and has upheld what he knows 

is our responsibility to support our veterans at every opportunity. 

As a public servant, my colleague has fought strongly to 

keep government off the backs of the American worker and 

set the stage for the Republican revolution through the progrowth gang the Five Amigos. Alongside Congressman Jack 

Kemp, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Senator Connie Mack, 

and Congressman Vin Weber, TRENT advocated President 

Reagan’s approach to politics, tax cuts to promote economic 

growth for everyone in America. 

Never far from his mind is his beloved home State of Mississippi, the sparkle in his eye. He has stood by the people 

of his State with unwavering devotion. When the people of 

his State were devastated by Hurricane Katrina, Senator 

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LOTT shared their pain with his own family’s loss and 

jumped into action. He dedicated his efforts to secure disaster relief and restoration construction. 

Senator LOTT has recognized the importance education 

plays in developing tomorrow’s leaders and has been a 

staunch advocate of improving the education system in Mississippi. Over the past few years, Senator LOTT has sent several excess Senate computers to public schools in Mississippi 

in an effort to increase their students’ access to the vast 

amount of information in the 21st century. His commitment 

to education in his State will be enjoyed for years to come. 

I have had the great privilege of working with Senator 

LOTT on a variety of issues. During my years in the House 

of Representatives, I remember when, as the Senate majority 

leader, TRENT worked tirelessly to help pass the landmark 

welfare reform bill of 1996, such a monumental piece of legislation that it is already receiving history’s praise. 

It has been a pleasure to work with him in Senate Republican leadership and to serve alongside him on both the Commerce and Finance Committees. Last year, on the Commerce 

Committee, TRENT and I worked together to establish broad 

video franchising reform. This year, as a member of the Finance Committee, Senator LOTT has been a very strong advocate for enacting permanent tax relief without increasing 

other taxes. 

There can be no question that Senator LOTT is a man of 

results; his remarkable list of achievements illustrates this 

very point. But it is important to highlight that TRENT does 

not overpromise. He will tell you just as straight as he can, 

‘‘I’ll be with you until I can’t be with you anymore.’’ 

Senator LOTT stands among few men in this world; a 

promise isn’t simply a word to him, it is a commitment to 

make good on a pledge. TRENT carries around a small notebook in which he records every promise made to him or by 

him. Senator LOTT is a man of his word who will hold you 

to yours. 

For the 7 years I have been in the Senate, I have been in 

a small group with TRENT who have met to pray together 

and to share each other’s burdens. I have seen him on the 

highest mountain and the lowest valley. Through it all he 

sought his Lord for wisdom, comfort, and strength. 

On a personal level I will miss serving alongside my 

friend. But I know wherever this life leads you, I am certain 

the Lord will bless both you and your incredible wife Trish. 

I also know you will bless those whose paths you will cross. 

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As his role as a Senator nears an end, I ask that we remember Senator LOTT’s legacy to this country, his State, and 

its people. Senator LOTT, I wish you and your family the best 

of luck. It has been a privilege to serve alongside you in the 

Senate. 

Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, as we come together for this last 

week of legislative activity before we adjourn for 2007, I appreciate having this opportunity to join my colleagues in expressing our appreciation for the many contributions to the 

Congress that have been made by one of our colleagues who 

will soon be retiring. We have heard many great speeches, 

seen a lot of passion and emotion—all well-deserved and 

heartfelt. 

TRENT LOTT, who has a well-earned reputation as a hard 

worker and great fighter for the people of Mississippi, has 

announced that he will be leaving the Senate so he can 

spend more time with his family. Although I understand the 

reasons for his departure, I know I will miss him and his 

presence and active participation in our work and the day to 

day life of the Senate. 

TRENT’s story begins in a town called Pascagoula in Mississippi. It is where he was raised and it is the place he still 

calls home. His dad worked in the shipyards and his mother 

was a teacher. Together they taught him the great lessons 

of life, and when he left for college he was already showing 

the presence of the leadership qualities that would someday 

help to lead him to a career in politics. 

TRENT enjoyed his school years and after a year of law 

practice, TRENT got a job with Congressman William Colmer, 

who was from his hometown. When Congressman Colmer retired after 40 years in the House, he encouraged and endorsed TRENT as TRENT ran for and won his seat. 

I have often heard it said that the great formula for success is preparedness plus opportunity. I know that TRENT believes it too, which is why when the opportunity came for 

TRENT to run for the House, he was fully prepared and that 

ultimately led to his success. He then served in the House 

from 1973 until his election to the Senate in 1988. 

Here in the Senate, TRENT has compiled a remarkable 

record of achievements because he understands the importance of working together to reach common goals. I have a 

similar rule I have often put into practice during my service 

in the State legislature and here in the Senate. I call it my 

80/20 rule. Simply put, it means we can agree on 80 percent 

of every issue. It is the other 20 percent that can sometimes 

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throw us off track and prevent a solution to the issue at 

hand. If we are going to make any progress, the key to success is to focus on that 80 percent and not allow ourselves 

to get sidetracked. 

TRENT fully understands that principle and he has put it 

into effect throughout his political career. Whenever he was 

working on an issue he knew that it was better to walk away 

with half a loaf than wind up with nothing. He knew that, 

with half a loaf in hand, he could always work on negotiating 

for the other half sometime later on down the road. 

That spirit of cooperation and compromise has been 

TRENT’s hallmark and his guiding philosophy during his 

service in the House and Senate. That is why he was able 

to get so much done for his State. 

There is no doubt that the people of Mississippi love 

TRENT and they greatly appreciate how hard he has been 

working for their best interests. That is why they kept sending him back to Washington after every election. 

I will never forget when I was running for reelection in 

2002 and TRENT came to Wyoming with his wife Tricia to 

help. He was a big hit and he received an enthusiastic response everywhere we went. It made a big difference to me 

to know that our leader in the Senate was willing to take the 

time to help a fellow Republican who was up for election. 

I wasn’t the only one, of course. Whenever TRENT saw an 

opportunity to help one of our nominees, he was always 

there to lend his support and provide whatever was needed 

to increase our chance for success. 

TRENT has been very fortunate in his life, but nowhere has 

he done better than in his choice of a spouse. The old adage 

is true. He and I both ‘‘over-married’’ and our lives have 

been blessed with the presence of a spouse who makes it possible for us to do everything we need to do as Senators. 

Without them, our lives and our jobs would be impossible. 

Now TRENT has decided to leave the Senate and pursue 

another adventure in his life. He will be greatly missed and, 

after more than 30 years of fighting for the people of Mississippi, he will be very difficult to replace. 

TRENT will always be remembered as someone who had a 

talent for putting together agreements so that everyone came 

out a winner. He has been in more battles than I can count 

on the floor and in committee and through it all he has always stood up and fought for the things he believes in, like 

keeping our taxes low and providing a strong defense to keep 

us safe and free from harm. 

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In his statement about his retirement, TRENT reminded us 

of the Bible passage that tells us that everything has its own 

time, everything has its own season. For TRENT, this will be 

a time of great change and the beginning of another new 

season in his life. One thing that won’t change, however, will 

be TRENT’s continued service to God and the country he 

loves. 

Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I join my Senate colleagues in wishing Senator TRENT LOTT well as he leaves the 

Senate. I have known Senator LOTT since I arrived here in 

1993, and he has always been a model of civility, and someone whose word you can rely on. While we don’t have a great 

deal in common politically, we still have worked together on 

important issues like media concentration and 527 reform. 

One of the best things about working in the Senate is finding 

ways to reach across the aisle and work together, and I am 

pleased that Senator LOTT and I could find that common 

ground. I think that is what the American people want us 

to do, and it is something that TRENT LOTT has always done 

very well. It was a pleasure from time to time to be on the 

same side as Senator LOTT. He is an effective and tenacious 

legislator, and I think we both enjoyed the strange bedfellows aspect of our work together. I particularly enjoyed 

appearing before the Rules Committee when Senator LOTT

was its chairman. 

Senator LOTT has given so much of his life to public service, serving 35 years in Congress, in a number of different 

leadership posts. I have appreciated his willingness to work 

together on a number of issues, and I have appreciated what 

a fair and courteous colleague he has been. I know that the 

people of Mississippi will miss his leadership, as will so 

many in this body. I wish him all the best as he leaves the 

Senate and returns to private life. 

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate my friend, Senator TRENT LOTT, on his 35 years of 

service to the people of Mississippi in both Houses of Congress, and also to wish him well as he leaves the Senate, and 

begins the next chapter of his incredible life. 

Senator LOTT was born in Grenada, MS, in 1941. His father was a shipyard worker, and his mother was a schoolteacher. He went to the University of Mississippi in Oxford, 

where he earned an undergraduate degree in public administration, and a law degree. 

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After finishing his education, he went to work for his local 

Congressman, William Colmer, for 4 years. When Congressman Colmer announced his retirement in 1972, he endorsed 

TRENT LOTT as his successor—even though Colmer was a 

Democrat, and LOTT ran as a Republican. TRENT LOTT won 

that election. And he was reelected to Congress seven times. 

As a Congressman, TRENT LOTT had a major, positive impact on his colleagues, and also on the economic vitality of 

America. After the 1980 election, he was elected to serve as 

House minority whip, and he became the first southern Republican to ever hold that position. 

Counting votes, building coalitions, and moving legislation 

were things he seemed born to do, and he genuinely enjoyed 

the process. In 1981, he helped forge the bipartisan alliance 

that enacted President Ronald Reagan’s historic, across-theboard tax cuts. 

Those tax cuts have been extremely successful. Since they 

went into full effect, the U.S. economy has almost quintupled 

in size, the Dow Jones has surged from less than 1,000 to 

over 13,000, and a wave of revolutionary technologies, including cell phones and the Internet, have strengthened 

America’s position in the global marketplace. 

In 1988, TRENT LOTT ran for, and won, a seat in the U.S. 

Senate. Since he arrived, TRENT has earned strong marks 

from the people of Mississippi, and they have reelected him 

to the Senate three times. 

Senator LOTT has never forgotten the needs and concerns 

of his constituents. I know about his compassion, dedication, 

and hard work because I have seen it first hand. 

In 2005, as we all know, Senator LOTT’s house was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina—a storm that created so much 

destruction throughout the gulf coast. 

Since then, Senator LOTT—along with his partner from 

Mississippi, Senator Cochran—have helped lead the fight to 

make sure that Washington meets its obligations to the people of the Gulf Coast States, who are rebuilding still today. 

His commitment during this time is a good part of why he 

decided to run for reelection. 

Throughout his tenure in the U.S. Senate, TRENT LOTT has 

demonstrated tremendous leadership ability. 

After the 1994 election, he was elected Senate Republican 

whip, and in 1996, he succeeded another Senate legend, Bob 

Dole, as Republican leader. 

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During the next 6 years, Senator LOTT was a strong leader 

for several pieces of legislation that improved life in America 

in a wide variety of ways. 

First and foremost was the landmark welfare reform bill 

of 1996. 

The next year, Senator LOTT worked to produce a bipartisan agreement that cut taxes, cut spending, and most important, balanced the Federal budget for the first time in almost 30 years. 

Then, in 2001, Senator LOTT led the fight for President 

Bush’s tax cut package. Combined with the tax cuts that followed in 2003, lower taxes have once again recharged America’s economy, even as the global economy grows more competitive. 

Since 2003, we have created 8.3 million jobs, which is more 

jobs than all the other major industrialized countries in the 

world combined. The economic growth caused by those tax 

cuts has also led to record tax revenue. Federal tax receipts 

are up more than 37 percent over the past 3 years. This has 

enabled us to cut the budget deficit in half, and if trends continue, we will be able to eliminate the deficit as soon as 

2012. 

During recent years, Senator LOTT has also taken a leadership role on other issues, including improving education 

and strengthening homeland security. In fact, he brokered 

the compromise that created the Department of Homeland 

Security. He was also instrumental in passing the Rail Security Act. 

Senator LOTT’s ability to round up votes and get results is 

clear for anyone to see. That is why his Republican colleagues elected him assistant Republican leader again last 

year. 

I have had the privilege to serve with Senator LOTT as a 

member of the Republican leadership and have watched him 

affect the outcome of every major piece of legislation that has 

gone before Congress. 

Last month, when Senator LOTT announced his intent to 

resign from the Senate, I was saddened—like all of my colleagues—to hear of his plans. However, like all of my colleagues, I also understand his desire to have time for himself 

and his family. After 35 years of public service, he deserves 

that and more. 

America is a better place—and has a brighter future—because of TRENT LOTT. 

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I wish TRENT and Tricia, and their family all the best in 

the future. 

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, as this session of the Senate 

draws to a close, I want to say thanks and farewell to one 

of our most dedicated Members, Senator TRENT LOTT of Mississippi, and to wish him all the best in the next phase of 

his life. 

In his 35 years of service as a Member of both the House 

and the Senate, TRENT LOTT has consistently demonstrated 

his deep commitment to our Nation and to his State. His 

amazing understanding of intricate Senate rules and procedures has guided us through many challenges. His outstanding work as our Republican whip has strengthened our 

caucus and our two-party system. 

I have had the privilege of working with Senator LOTT on 

two issues of paramount importance to the safety and security of our Nation. Like me, he comes from a shipbuilding 

State and he fully understands how essential seapower is to 

preserving our freedom. We have worked together to 

strengthen our Navy and to pursue a dual-shipyard strategy 

because it is in the best interests of America. 

As a leader of the Homeland Security and Governmental 

Affairs Committee, I had the opportunity to work closely 

with Senator LOTT during our investigation of the response 

to Hurricane Katrina. His knowledge of the gulf region was 

invaluable, and his compassion for the victims of that disaster was inspiring. Although his own home was destroyed 

by the storm, Senator LOTT was on the front lines from the 

start, directing resources where they were most needed and 

helping cut through the red tape. Before Katrina hit, he had 

planned to step down from the Senate last year, but with the 

needs so great and with a contribution yet to make, he instead ran again so that he could continue to serve at a time 

when his experience and dedication were most needed. 

Although Maine and Mississippi are separated by great 

distance, both are rural States facing similar challenges, and 

I have always found Senator LOTT a strong ally in meeting 

them. I was especially pleased to cosponsor his Amtrak reauthorization bill, which recognized that the benefits of modern 

rail service must be made available to all States and to all 

of the American people. 

Last April, I had the honor, at Senator LOTT’s invitation, 

of addressing students at his beloved University of Mississippi. Specifically, I addressed students at Ole Miss’s 

TRENT LOTT Leadership Institute, a designation made in 

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honor of his commitment to public service. It is a commitment that has greatly benefited our Nation, and it is the legacy for which Senator TRENT LOTT will always be remembered. 

Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, it is with sadness and 

affection that I note the imminent departure from the Senate 

of my dear friend and distinguished colleague TRENT LOTT of 

Mississippi. TRENT and I came to the Senate together almost 

20 years ago. Over that time, I have come to respect TRENT’s 

leadership abilities, but most of all I have treasured his 

friendship and counsel. 

TRENT and I come from different places but we share a 

deep love for our country and a deep respect and appreciation for this institution in which we have been privileged to 

serve. TRENT not only represented his beloved home State, 

but he became a national leader because his colleagues recognized that he had extraordinary abilities to make this institution work. 

Like all successful and effective Senators, TRENT understood that for this institution to work for the American people, the 100 Members of this body must find a way to cooperate despite the differences in region, ideology, party, and 

even personality. TRENT had a seventh sense of what motivated his colleagues and how they might approach an issue 

that was before the Senate. Sometimes it was uncanny how 

prescient TRENT could be about the outcome of a particular 

vote on the Senate floor. He understood that one could compromise in order to achieve results without compromising 

core principles. 

Yes, TRENT was a conservative Republican partisan when 

he needed to be. But TRENT also knew there were times 

when it was critical to put partisanship aside for the national interest. Particularly in the area of national security, 

TRENT comprehended that Republicans and Democrats must 

find a way to unite to promote America’s interests. 

In addition to being an effective legislator, TRENT is a man 

of considerable charm and warmth. Hadassah and I have 

great memories of the times we spent with TRENT and his 

wonderful wife Tricia. When we would travel abroad, TRENT

was a terrific companion and always carried himself with 

honor, style, and grace. I even remember a moment when we 

were staying in a hotel in Scotland when we were forced to 

hurriedly exit in the middle of the night because of a fire 

alarm. Yet, there was TRENT, perfectly coiffed and unruffled. 

Our leader! 

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Although TRENT was always devoted to the institution of 

the Senate, he was also devoted to another critical American 

institution—the family. TRENT did not merely talk about 

family values—he lived them. TRENT saw no contradiction in 

being a good Senator and being a good husband and father. 

That is to his tremendous credit, and, for all of us, a tremendous lesson. 

Above all, TRENT appreciated the miracle of America. He 

rose from modest means in Grenada, MS, to ascend to the 

legislative heights in Washington, DC. However, TRENT

never abandoned the values of faith, family, and hard work 

that were his inheritance from his beloved parents, Chester 

and Iona Lott. 

TRENT, as you begin this new chapter in your life, I wish 

you well. Your example of doing what is necessary to make 

this institution work is something we have all benefited 

from. The people of Mississippi and the people of America 

are grateful for your service. Hadassah and I look forward to 

continuing our friendship with Trish and you for years to 

come. May God bless you and yours, dear friend. 

Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I rise to speak about Senator 

LOTT. The Senate is a place—and we have heard it today for 

2 hours with wonderful eloquence and thoughts and humorous stories and anecdotes about Senator LOTT—it is a place 

of words and language. It is also a place, obviously, of legislation, and legislation leading to laws. But, most significantly, the Senate is a place of people, of individuals—individuals who come here from all over our Nation, representing their people but always representing America, and 

who meld into the institutions and traditions of this extraordinary place in various ways. Certain individuals leave an 

indelible mark. There are not too many, but there are some 

who have. 

I would expect that TRENT LOTT will be one of those individuals. 

I have had the great pleasure and honor of working with 

TRENT LOTT off and on for a long time. I was elected in the 

class of 1988 to the House of Representatives. He was Republican whip of the House at that time. 

Somebody mentioned in their statement—and I served in 

the House with him and have served in the Senate with him 

for many years—that he won three major leadership elections by one vote. I know I, at least, voted for him in those 

three elections, so maybe I was that one vote. 

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Our wives and our families have integrated over the years 

and have been close and done a lot of interesting and fun 

things together. Kathy and Tricia are very close friends. 

TRENT and Kathy are close friends. And I am a close friend 

of Tricia. We really enjoy that friendship, and it goes back 

to a lot of different instances. 

There are a lot of stories told about TRENT LOTT. One of 

my favorites is that TRENT tends to like to sing and dance. 

I guess that comes from his cheerleading days at Mississippi. 

But he has so much energy he has to let it out through song 

and dance. On occasion, he can be drawn into this. In fact, 

it does not take too much to get him to sing. 

We were at a gathering once, where Tricia and I and 

Kathy were sitting around a table near a stage, and TRENT

was up on the stage singing with his good friend, Guy Hovis, 

and then there was dance music that started. Tricia, knowing TRENT as she does so well, turned to Kathy and said 

under her breath: ‘‘If you don’t look at him, he won’t ask you 

to dance.’’ 

Little did Tricia know that Kathy actually likes to dance 

too. So the two of them went off and danced away and had 

a great time. Tricia and I sat at the table dancing inside. But 

as a practical matter, he has an energy and a personality 

that is effusive and effervescent, and it draws everybody in. 

He is truly the American story. He is not a southern story, 

he is an American story. He came from a family of moderate 

means. His father was a pipefitter. His mother was totally 

committed to him. He raised himself up and went to his beloved University of Mississippi, which I think he still thinks 

he is going there some days he talks so much about it. 

His whole life has revolved around Mississippi and the 

people of Mississippi and the people he has helped in Mississippi. This is what has made him go: his ability to reach 

out and make people’s lives better, to change their lives and 

improve their lives. 

He has brought all those Mississippi values here. I think 

there is some sort of almost genetic quality to Members of 

the Senate from the South. They just have this ability to 

move through this body with ease and with comfort and 

make everybody feel relaxed and enjoy them. They do not 

have that stoic nature that we might have, those of us from 

the Northeast. Rather, it is just the opposite. They have an 

energy and an effervescence and a personality that brings 

people in and causes people to want to work with them. 

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Of course, numerous statements have been made about 

what a great individual he is, about going across the aisle 

and understanding how you go across the aisle and make 

things work here. That is absolutely true. He is a tremendous doer of legislation because he has the capacity to bring 

together coalitions. He knows how to reach out to people in 

a comfortable way. He also knows how to fight a fight and 

win it. 

But it goes well beyond this issue of working to reach compromise to make legislation pass because he has had a passion for getting things done. He also has a philosophy of how 

we should govern. He is truly a conservative, a fiscal conservative, an individual who understands the importance of 

giving the individual opportunity, giving the individual the 

capacity to succeed in our Nation because he had undertaken 

that and accomplished it. 

But it always goes back to his Mississippi roots, I believe. 

He now has—I think it is something Senator Alexander described because Senator Alexander and his wife, Honey, and 

Kathy and I had the good fortune to be invited down to visit 

him at Tricia’s new home—we call it Tricia’s home—in Jackson, MS, where they bought this very nice house they are restoring. It is an antebellum house. It is a beautiful house. He 

just loves the land. He loves the people who come to the 

house. The people he sees, he loves, throughout his day and 

when he is traveling in Mississippi. 

Of course, he loves his tractors. He has this whole shed 

full of tractors. I am sure there must be maybe seven tractors there, farm equipment. Of course, only one or two of 

them actually work. But as a practical matter, he loves 

them. He loves to just drive around his property and make 

sure his fields are cut. He cuts them, and he makes sure 

they are properly taken care of. He is working his Mississippi land. I suspect he and Tricia built this home to gather their family which is so important to them: Chet, Tyler, 

their grandchildren coming over on a regular basis. Kathy 

and I just looked at them and said: These are special people. 

These people represent the values we really have as Americans—not as southerners but as Americans—the value of 

family, value of honesty, value of integrity, the willingness to 

get things done and to work hard. Succeed, and then take 

advantage of your opportunities to make life better for others, and that was his whole purpose in the Senate—to make 

life better for America but especially for his constituents in 

Mississippi. 

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Of course, then came Katrina. What a devastating effect it 

had on him and Tricia. They had this beautiful home in 

Pascagoula which, again, Kathy and I had a chance to visit, 

an extraordinary house in a line of Victorian houses right on 

the waterfront. Out behind the house there was this magnificent oak tree, just huge. I have never seen such a spectacular and large tree. The storm came, of course, and it wiped 

out his house, it wiped out his brother-in-law’s house, his sister-in-law’s house, and every other house anywhere near 

there was devastated. He found his class ring, I believe, 

three blocks away, or somebody found it and gave it to him. 

All of their memorabilia, the things that meant so much to 

them, the photos of their families, their notes and comments 

they received from people, from Presidents and others, all 

the memorabilia that had represented his lifetime and 

Tricia’s lifetime, of family and Mississippi activity was also 

spread and destroyed by the storm, and the house, of course, 

was eliminated by the storm. 

But I asked him, because I was so startled, if the tree was 

still there. He said to me: ‘‘Yes, the tree is still there.’’ This 

huge oak tree that is so beautiful, so magnificent and so elegant. As TRENT leaves this Senate, I think of this oak. He 

may be leaving the Senate, but he is still here, and he will 

be here. His memory will be here, and the way he did things, 

the way he taught those of us who learned from him will be 

here. He will leave a legacy which, like an oak, will stand 

for a long time in this body. It was an amazing and an extraordinary privilege to have the ability, the right, and the 

privilege to serve with him, and for Kathy and I to get to 

know him and Tricia over these many years. So we thank 

him for his service, and we look forward to continuing our 

friendship as the years proceed. 

Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, there is something that is 

being concluded tonight or upon the time we go sine die, and 

that is the career of Senator TRENT LOTT of Mississippi. 

While many have come to the floor over the course of the day 

to speak about TRENT, I have not had that opportunity because of several other meetings and a committee that was in 

session. So I wish to take a few moments to visit with all of 

my colleagues about my friend and my associate TRENT

LOTT. 

There is not a lot I can say to add to what has already 

been said about his quality as a person, his ability as a leader. 

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I first got to know TRENT in 1981 when I came to the 

House. He had already been there for 10 years and was rapidly growing in stature among Republicans as a leader who 

would ultimately be chosen to work as a Republican whip in 

the House. 

He and I grew to know each other and our wives got to 

know each other during that period of time and a clear 

friendship developed. But it was not until both of us left the 

House and came to the Senate that we developed a different 

kind of relationship and friendship that, frankly, most Senators don’t have the opportunity to do. 

TRENT LOTT and I and John Ashcroft, the Senator from 

Missouri, who became U.S. Attorney General under this administration, and a former Republican, and then to become 

a Democratic Senator and then to retire, Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont, all four of us developed a very unique relationship that no other Senators shared. We found out that 

we could sing together and that in doing so, we could not 

only have fun ourselves, but that other people, sometimes 

with a smile, would suggest they enjoyed listening to us. 

We formed a group called the Singing Senators, and over 

a period of about 4 years, we traveled from Los Angeles to 

Springfield, MO, to Branson to Houston to Nashville. We 

were on the ‘‘Today Show.’’ We sang at the Kennedy Center. 

What was most interesting was, we shocked folks. Not only 

after a lot of practice did we begin to sound pretty good, but 

can you imagine stuffy, blue pinstripe suit Senators all of a 

sudden singing ‘‘Elvira’’? That we did, and we had a lot of 

fun doing it, and we entertained people all over the United 

States. 

But what came out of that was a friendship and a bond 

that probably few others have because the four of us traveled 

together with our spouses in all of these locations that I 

mentioned and a good many more, not only to entertain the 

public and to show we were human by our character, while 

we could still be Senators, but also to raise money for our 

party or to raise money for a Senate candidate. 

I will never forget the time when we were in Los Angeles 

and there were about 1,000 people out there waiting to hear 

us. We were singing off of a CD with our background accompaniment music, and the system broke down. And what do 

you do when the music stops? Well, most people quit singing. 

But we found out that we could sing a cappella, or without 

accompaniment. So we sang ‘‘God Bless America,’’ we sang 

a couple of other songs, and then they got the music fixed. 

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And I think the audience enjoyed us without music more 

than they enjoyed us with music. Anyway, we had a lot of 

fun. 

But in the end we did something else. We went to Nashville and put all our songs together on a CD, produced several thousand CDs, just to give away, and found out that 

they were in demand. So we sold them all, and all of the 

money went to the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Alzheimer’s 

Fund. And, frankly, we found out to our great surprise that 

it raised a lot of money. 

I know TRENT and John and Jim and I still today, every 

so often, will get a phone call from somebody who says: ‘‘I 

just listened to your CD again, and you know, you guys were 

amazingly good for U.S. Senators.’’ 

Now, that is probably a side of TRENT LOTT that was not 

spoken to today, but it is a side of TRENT LOTT that you all 

ought to know—the smile, the joy, the fun we had of singing 

the kind of songs we sang in a way that Senators are just 

not supposed to do. For in the end, Senators are like an 

awful lot of other folks out there—we are human. We have 

a very human side to us, with our friends and our families, 

and that is what we learned about TRENT and Tricia Lott 

and John Ashcroft and his wife and Jim Jeffords and his 

wife, as we traveled around the country singing on behalf of 

Republicans, but really singing on behalf of America because 

we enjoyed it and we hoped others would enjoy it. 

That is something I will miss when TRENT LOTT leaves because we have had an opportunity since that time to get together on occasion and sing a few songs and enjoy ourselves. 

TRENT LOTT, a great U.S. Senator from Mississippi, and a 

guy with a pretty good bass voice. 

Mr. HAGEL. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 

our friend and colleague, Senator TRENT LOTT of Mississippi. 

When Senator LOTT steps down at the end of this year after 

35 years of service to our country in the Congress, he will 

leave behind a legacy of leadership and service to Mississippi. 

I have known Senator LOTT for many years. Our friendship dates back to when he was first elected to the House of 

Representatives in 1972. 

In 1981, when serving as House Republican whip he 

played a central role in the formation of a bipartisan coalition which produced national security initiatives and promoted economic recovery under President Ronald Reagan. 

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In 1994, Senator LOTT became the first Republican to ever 

have been elected whip in both houses, and then went on to 

become Senate majority leader. He and his friend and fellow 

Senator from Mississippi, Thad Cochran, who were both 

elected to the House in 1972, were the first two Republicans 

to win statewide elections in the Magnolia State since Reconstruction. 

In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina left nothing but an oak 

tree on the front lawn of where his home had been in 

Pascagoula, MS, Senator LOTT worked tirelessly for recovery 

funding and tax breaks for gulf coast homeowners and businesses who had lost everything. 

My wife Lilibet, who is also from Mississippi, and I wish 

TRENT, Tricia, and their family every happiness in their new 

life. They have earned it. But we will miss them. 

Mr. President, I know all our colleagues join me in congratulating Senator TRENT LOTT on a long, successful, and 

distinguished congressional career. 

Mr. BOND. Mr. President, born in Grenada, raised in 

Pascagoula, and educated at the University of Mississippi— 

there is no denying where TRENT LOTT is from. He is a true 

son of Mississippi. 

TRENT is one of my few colleagues who knows how to say 

‘‘Missouri’’ right. 

In all seriousness, it has been an honor to work with 

TRENT LOTT, and a real pleasure for Linda and me to get to 

know his wonderful wife, Trish. 

Senator LOTT has had a remarkable career in Congress 

that has spanned seven Presidents, two impeachments, and 

most important, decades of progress that has made Mississippi and America stronger and more prosperous. 

He saw Watergate up close and personal, oversaw the end 

of the cold war, spearheaded enactment of historic welfare 

reforms, shepherded passage of tax relief in both the Reagan 

and Bush administrations that made America’s working families more prosperous, and helped pass numerous historic 

trade agreements to create more U.S. jobs. 

While his career in Washington began in the House, he 

quickly became a creature of the Senate and built a reputation as a parliamentary master. 

Getting work done in the Senate is no easy task. I like to 

say it is a lot like getting frogs in a wheelbarrow. Some may 

call it herding cats. However you would like to say it, Senator LOTT knew how to get the job done. 

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Senator LOTT always knew how to count votes and get the 

best deal based on Republican priorities and principles. In 

the Senate, there is no higher compliment. And in that respect, TRENT is a Senator’s Senator, reflected both in his 

work on behalf of Mississippi and on behalf of America. 

On behalf of the country, his belief in fiscal responsibility 

led to a historic tax cut agreement that produced the first 

balanced budget since 1968. 

His belief in investing in a strong national defense has 

made our country safer. 

On behalf of his home State of Mississippi he has been 

tireless in his efforts to promote economic development and 

expand job creation. From investing in schools to improving 

infrastructure, his contribution has been extensive and lasting. 

Thanks to Senator LOTT, Toyota, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and many other companies have a home in 

Mississippi. 

It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to serve with 

TRENT LOTT. 

I join my colleagues in congratulating the Senator and 

thanking him for his many years of service and for our 

friendship. 

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I rise today to join in recognizing Senator TRENT LOTT. 

Less than 6 months ago, I joined the Senate. I was selected to serve out the term of our dear friend, Craig Thomas, and given the responsibility to represent the people of 

Wyoming. 

My experience has only been enhanced by the quality of 

the individuals with whom I serve. The welcome has been 

warm, the advice gratifying, and the diversity of my colleagues remarkable. 

This morning’s session is about the incredible service of 

one exceptional Member of the Senate, TRENT LOTT. President Reagan once said, ‘‘I know TRENT LOTT as one of the 

most important leaders in the country on issues vital to all 

Americans.’’ 

Shortly after I joined the Senate, Senator LOTT was kind 

enough to visit with me and share some advice. In addition 

to his advice on how to deal with the Senate as an institution, it was his advice of a more personal nature that is most 

inspiring. Senator LOTT stressed that to survive the chaos 

and challenge of serving in the Senate, it was important to 

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dent from his words that the depth of love for his wife Tricia, 

his family, friends, and the people of Mississippi was the key 

to his success in Washington. His inner strength comes from 

the people who supported him when times were tough and 

challenged him when he thought all was well. It is a lesson 

I will remember for as long as I am fortunate enough to represent the people of Wyoming in the Senate. 

If he were with us today, Senator Thomas would want to 

extend his heartfelt best wishes to TRENT and Tricia. I know 

Susan Thomas wishes the entire Lott family many years of 

happiness and success. I join all of my colleagues in wishing 

all the best to this remarkable man. 

Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, the first call I received from 

TRENT LOTT was in 1986 when I first ran for Congress. 

Though the polls hadn’t yet closed and I still didn’t know 

that I won, TRENT called me up to congratulate me. In 1994 

when I ran for my Senate seat, TRENT LOTT again called me 

on election night to tell me congratulations. TRENT and I 

have worked together for 21 years and he has always been 

the best political mechanic in Washington. I take great pride 

in having helped launch the successful political career of 

TRENT LOTT by being one of his first supporters in his bid 

for the Republican whip position. 

People quite often take shots at TRENT without justification. Don Imus used to say on his morning radio program 

that it looked like TRENT ‘‘combed his hair with a sponge.’’ 

Well, I have to admit it did look that way sometimes, but if 

that is the worst you can say about TRENT, I think he is 

doing just fine. 

One lesson I’ve learned from TRENT is that you shouldn’t 

take things too seriously. I’ve seen him laugh in the face of 

adversity on more than one occasion, most recently when 

TRENT’s home in Mississippi was wiped out by Hurricane 

Katrina. Romans 5:3 tells us to rejoice in our sufferings because ‘‘suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope,’’ and certainly I’ve seen that in 

the life of TRENT LOTT. 

When he talked this morning about his four pillars of family, faith, friends, and freedom, the one that people didn’t 

talk much about was his faith. I have prayed with him at a 

weekly meeting for many years, and I have to say this about 

him: he is a faithful and obedient person to his Lord and 

Savior Jesus Christ. So many of my colleagues say they have 

lost a friend, a colleague, and a statesman, but I have lost 

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[ 75 ] 

a brother. I rejoice in the contributions that TRENT LOTT has 

made throughout his life. 

Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I wanted to take a few 

moments this morning to pay tribute to my departing colleague, Senator TRENT LOTT of Mississippi. 

Senator LOTT has been a trusted friend, a hardworking 

legislator, and a skilled party leader on issue after issue in 

his 35 years of distinguished service in the House and Senate. He has been a tireless champion of conservative values 

over the years, but it is a testament to his unfailing courtesy 

and affability that he has been so popular and effective with 

his colleagues over the years, without ever surrendering 

those core values. This Senate will miss his presence and example, and his State and his Nation will miss his principled 

leadership. 

I often think about what an incredible country this is 

where the son of a Kansas farmer and the son of a Mississippi shipyard worker can work together on the great 

issues of our day in the world’s greatest deliberative body. I 

know that this country is better for the fact that TRENT

LOTT, with all of his talents and abilities, was given that opportunity. 

Senator LOTT was instrumental in the great political realignment that took place in the South throughout the 1970s 

and 1980s; in fact he was only the second Republican elected 

to Congress from Mississippi since Reconstruction. He went 

on to become one of the most effective political leaders of his 

day, perhaps one of the most effective leaders this body has 

ever seen. TRENT has been amazingly effective in building 

coalitions, in working across the aisle, and in leading his 

party. 

Those of us on both sides of the aisle who have worked 

with him over the years know that TRENT LOTT is a man of 

his word. In large part that has accounted for his political 

effectiveness both with the voters and with his colleagues. 

With Senator LOTT, there is never any question about where 

he stands and who he is, and that kind of integrity gains 

people’s respect and admiration. 

His integrity was never more apparent than when he 

stayed in the Senate out of a sense of duty to his State to 

see his people through the terrible natural disaster that was 

Hurricane Katrina. 

After three decades serving the people of his State and 

serving his country in the U.S. Congress, we now say farewell to our valued colleague. He has served his country with 

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resolve, honor, and energy. As he leaves us in order to spend 

more time with his beloved family, I join my colleagues in 

thanking TRENT and his wife Patricia for their service to 

their country, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota. 

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, as a sort of starting point, I 

noticed that throughout today we have had a lot of legislative business, and I thought it was interesting this morning, 

when many of my colleagues came down here to pay tribute 

to Senator LOTT, that while that was going on, and I was 

coming down here as well to listen to some of those and to 

offer my remarks at that time, I was handed a whip card to 

go start to do some whip work, because that is the task that 

Senator LOTT—and I have had the honor to serve on his 

whip team—is entrusted with here in the Senate. 

So it was always focused on the task and always on the 

work at hand. Even as we were in his last day here in the 

Senate paying tribute to him, he continued to work hard at 

the responsibility that had been entrusted to him by his fellow Senators on this side of the aisle. 

It was a great privilege, as I said, to be able to serve in 

that capacity and to learn from Senator LOTT. I think he has 

the distinction as perhaps the only person who served as the 

whip in the House of Representatives and now in the Senate. 

As he leaves, he leaves a great legacy. Many of us who have 

had the opportunity to learn under his tutelage about the 

way this institution operates have been blessed to have 

someone like him as a teacher. 

Senator LOTT always understood that although we deal 

with very serious, very weighty, sometimes complex and oftentimes consequential issues, it is also important that we 

not take ourselves too seriously. TRENT never did. Even 

those of us sort of plain Midwesterners who resisted the 

Seersucker Suit Day and its attendant fashion statement 

recognized the value of many of the trends that Senator 

LOTT was responsible for instigating. 

TRENT never lost sight of the fact that in the end—while 

we are elected officials, we are Senators, we have responsibilities to our constituencies, responsibilities under the 

Constitution, responsibilities to our country—that we are all 

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tionships are what will endure. He worked actively at building those types of relationships. 

I first had the opportunity to meet TRENT when I was a 

Member of the House of Representatives. Like many of my 

colleagues who at the time served in the House, he was the 

leader in the Senate. But we had some opportunities to 

interact, and we always respected the work he did and the 

way he understood the Senate and its rules and its procedures and was able to effectively make it work to produce results. Ultimately, that was always his objective. He knew we 

were going to disagree, he knew there would be differences, 

but in the end his objective was always to get us across the 

finish line so the Senate could complete its work, and the 

work of the American people could be done. 

I will certainly miss, as will many Senators, that personal 

touch, that sense of humor, that warmth, that smile—all 

those things that are part of his character and his personality that are so closely associated with the Senate. 

My office is next to his on the fourth floor of the Russell 

Building. It was not uncommon for Senator LOTT to do the 

pop-in visit. He would pop into my office, always to have a 

discussion about perhaps what the issue of the day was. But 

there was not one of those pop-in visits where I didn’t learn 

something, where just, again, having been exposed to him 

presented the opportunity to learn from someone who had 

mastered this institution after serving here for those many 

years; someone who also understood the House very well, 34 

or 35 years, I think, in total in the House and Senate, as 

well as having served here as a staffer prior to that. 

When Senator LOTT came to the Senate the very first time 

as a staffer—I don’t know exactly the date, but I know it was 

sometime in the late 1960s—I was probably in first or second 

grade, somewhere in that vicinity. 

Over the years, his service has helped accomplish a great 

many things for the American people. He has been a great 

leader for the Republican Party. As majority leader, as minority leader, as minority whip, majority whip—in all those 

positions he has held he has had one goal and objective in 

mind, and that is to help his team help this great country 

continue to prosper, continue to be safe and secure for future 

generations. 

If I think there are any lessons that can be learned, things 

that I, perhaps, learned from TRENT during his service in the 

short time I have had the opportunity to serve with him, one 

would be to serve causes that are greater than yourself. I 

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think he had a great sense of purpose about what was important in life. Clearly, that was the case or he would have 

gone off and done other things a long time ago. 

Second, to be serious about your work. He was very much, 

as I said, a task master. I know from experience, serving on 

his whip team, that when there was a task at hand he was 

very focused and intently conscious of the importance of getting the job done and getting it done in a timely way. He was 

serious about his work. But the other thing he understood 

was he never took himself too seriously. He, as I said, invested in relationships in this body, knowing full well it is 

those relationships that will have the enduring value. 

The final lesson that I got from TRENT is never forget 

where you came from. That was one thing he also modeled. 

He was a Mississippi original through and through. That 

was something you always sensed. His priority, his heart, 

was always with his home State. What came through loud 

and clear to all of us when his State was struck with the adversity that came from Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath 

of that was the enormous work he did to help his State to 

recover. He always had a sense of where he was from. He 

never lost sight of that, and who he represented. 

There is a verse in the Bible that says: ‘‘Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’’ I think you could always tell what things TRENT treasured. You could always 

tell where his heart was because of the things that he treasured. His faith was very important to him in a personal way. 

His family, his beloved wife Tricia, and his children, were always a top, first priority for him. Finally, his friends. That 

was something I think you heard abundantly today as people 

from both sides of the aisle got up and talked about their experiences and the relationships that he had built with them 

over the years. If you can judge someone where their heart 

is, by where their treasure is, you always knew where TRENT

LOTT’s heart was. It was with his faith, it was with his family, and it was with his friends. 

I am very proud and privileged to count myself among 

those friends. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia. 

Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, how much time do I have? 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is recognized for 

3 minutes. 

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Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 

I may speak for as long as I wish to consume. That will not 

be very long. I cannot talk about Senator LOTT in 3 minutes. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

Mr. BYRD. I thank my colleagues, Mr. President. 

Mr. President, in his political memoir, ‘‘Herding Cats: A 

Life in Politics,’’ our distinguished colleague, the former majority leader, Senator TRENT LOTT, noted that he viewed his 

‘‘years in Washington as a magnificent experience, with 

many more mountaintops than valleys.’’ How is that? Let me 

say that again: He viewed his ‘‘years in Washington as a 

magnificent experience, with many more mountaintops than 

valleys.’’ 

What a wonderful way to look at one’s experience in the 

U.S. Congress. Everyone in public life knows there are valleys. Life may be unfair, but in public life, that unfairness, 

I daresay, is magnified tenfold. But as Senator LOTT explains, he prefers to look at the mountaintops, and his political life has been one of many mountaintop experiences. 

This son of a shipyard worker and public school teacher 

was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1972. He 

was in the House for 16 years, where he distinguished himself by serving with great aplomb on the House Rules Committee as his party whip. I know something about that party 

whip. That ain’t easy. 

In 1988, he left his safe and secure seat in the House to 

run for the Senate. Reach for the stars. In the Senate, Senator LOTT has served as Republican conference secretary, Republican Senate whip, Senate minority leader, and Senate 

majority leader. As the Senate whip, Senator LOTT became 

the first Republican ever elected to the whip positions in 

both Houses of Congress. 

As the Republican Senate leader, Senator LOTT served 

with dignity and with diplomacy. Diplomacy was his tool. He 

was a facilitator who sought to bring differing political factions together on key legislative issues. 

TRENT LOTT established solid, productive relationships 

with the Senate Democratic leaders in order to keep legislation moving, moving, moving to the floor. Make no mistake, 

as a conservative Republican, Senator TRENT LOTT has always been combatively—combatively; underline that word, 

combatively—partisan in his thinking and his approach to 

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lowed his partisanship to become stubborn or nihilistic or destructive. No, never. 

Senate Majority Leader Reid—that is Harry Reid, Senator 

Harry Reid, majority leader—recently commented on how 

closely he has worked with Senator LOTT. They negotiated. 

They negotiated. Together they worked out compromises, 

which, as they say, is the art of politics and the legislative 

process. Majority Leader Reid then explained: ‘‘Even though 

TRENT LOTT is certainly a true conservative, we were able, 

in his pragmatic fashion, to work things out.’’ 

It is not easy. Allow me to state this in another way. Senator LOTT always put the good of this institution—right here, 

this institution—and the good of our country first; that is, 

above partisan political interests or political party. For that, 

I have always respected him, TRENT LOTT, and I have always 

admired him. 

Senator LOTT takes great pride in his roots and his southern heritage. I, too, am a southerner and am proud of that. 

My great uncle was killed fighting for the Confederacy. As 

a champion of his beautiful and beloved home State of Mississippi, he was always on call for the people of the Magnolia 

State. This was best seen a few years ago when he was considering retiring from the Senate at the close of the 109th 

Congress, but feeling an obligation to help his State to recover from the deadly and devastating impact of Hurricane 

Katrina, TRENT LOTT decided to stay with us, and I, for one, 

am glad he did. Thank you, TRENT. 

In his political memoir, ‘‘Herding Cats,’’ which I mentioned 

a few minutes ago, Senator LOTT included a special chapter 

entitled ‘‘The Differences Between Friends and Colleagues.’’ 

‘‘Differences Between Friends and Colleagues’’—what a powerful and insightful look this is into the political realities of 

life and work on Capitol Hill. Senator TRENT LOTT pulled no 

punches—none—as he discussed the differences between the 

two. He bluntly recalled telling one person: You didn’t help 

me when you could have. Senators, think of that. Think of 

that statement if it was said to you: You didn’t help me 

when you could have. That is piercing, leaves nothing unsaid. I guess that about sums it up: You didn’t help me when 

you could have. 

I will miss Senator TRENT LOTT. I wish him and his very 

lovely wife Tricia—tell her I said hello on behalf of Erma and 

myself—I wish him and his lovely wife Tricia health, happiness, and success as they now embark upon the next phase 

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of their lives. I pray they will enjoy nothing but the best. 

They have earned it. 

Mr. President: 

It isn’t enough that we say in our hearts 

That we like a man for his ways; 

And it isn’t enough that we fill our minds 

With psalms of silent praise; 

Nor is it enough that we honor a man 

As our confidence upward mounts; 

It’s going right up to the man himself 

And telling him so that counts. 

Then when a man does a deed that you really admire, 

Don’t leave a kind word unsaid, 

For fear that it might make him vain 

Or cause him to lose his head; 

But reach out your hand and tell him, ‘‘Well done,’’ 

And see how his gratitude swells; 

It isn’t the flowers we strew on the grave, 

It’s the word to the living that tells. 

Thank you, TRENT. 

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, while I was deeply saddened when Senator TRENT LOTT told me he would retire at 

the end of the year, I understood completely why he made 

this decision. 

TRENT and Tricia have been trying to restore their lives in 

Mississippi following the devastation of their home as a result of the terrible devastation which struck our East Coast 

during the Katrina and Rita hurricanes. They lost their 

home—and most of their possessions, and they need time to 

recover. 

There is no Senator with whom I have served who has had 

a deeper commitment to our Nation. TRENT was the whip of 

our party in the House of Representatives when I was whip 

here in the Senate. We initiated weekly conferences to try to 

share the progress and intentions of our leaders at that time. 

From those days until now I have considered TRENT one of 

the best friends I have had in my lifetime. 

TRENT and I have served together on several committees 

of the Senate. Our primary work together has been on the 

Commerce Committee where TRENT has been our leader on 

the Aviation and Maritime Commerce Subcommittees. His 

work on our Commerce Committee will be sorely missed. 

TRENT’s own words on ‘‘herding cats’’ is well known here. 

He has had more success in achieving bipartisan results 

than most people outside the Senate know. TRENT has not 

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sought the credit for what he has accomplished—it has been 

enough for him that he knew the job was done. 

His role as a member of the Singing Senators is well 

known. What people should know is that he had the good 

sense to ask this Senator not to join—they didn’t need a 

monotone! 

As I told the The Politic,it is doubtful the Oak Ridge Boys 

will come back to the Capitol. TRENT brought them to the 

LBJ Room—where he asked them to sing ‘‘The Late Night 

Benediction at the Y’all Come Back Saloon.’’ 

It is hard for me to visualize the Senate without TRENT

LOTT. I believe every Senator here now knows what he has 

done. He stepped down from the leadership—kept a smile on 

his face and went back to work. He regained the leadership 

as he was selected to be our whip—and the Republican leader’s comments show that TRENT LOTT became the whip any 

leader would dream to have: loyal, supportive, full of energy 

to get the job done, and all with that smile that we all know 

so well. 

So, as I said in the beginning, it is with sadness that I join 

in wishing TRENT and Tricia the best that life has to offer 

as they leave this Senate family. Catherine and I wish them 

the best and will pray for their success in the future. 

Mr. President, I yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi, 

the Republican whip. 

[Mr. LOTT’s farewell speech appears on page ix.] 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California. 

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I hope we all heed TRENT

LOTT’s words that he spoke so beautifully right now. He 

spoke from the heart, and he spoke from experience. As I listened to him, I thought: We do sometimes forget about what 

is important in life. I think he brought that back to us. 

I yield the floor. 

Mrs. MCCASKILL. Mr. President, I first want to comment 

on what a pleasure it was listening to several hours of tribute to Senator LOTT. I have not served with Senator LOTT for 

very long, but at the point in time that I, hopefully, would 

be allowed to decide to retire from the Senate, I could only 

hope I have such kind things said about me in so many different ways. 

I was glad I got an opportunity to listen to 3 hours of Senators talking nicely about each other. It is an important 

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thing to do this time of year, and I think, frankly, it is an 

important thing to do more often, and we do not do enough 

of it around here, particularly across the line. . . . 

WEDNESDAY, December 19, 2007 

PRAYER

The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, offered the following 

prayer: 

Let us pray. 

Our Father, when we look to the heavens, the works of 

Your fingers, the Moon and the stars that You have established, what is humanity that You are mindful of us? May 

those thoughts of Your Majesty lead us to humility and a 

willingness to acknowledge our weakness and failure as we 

receive Your strength and wisdom. 

Give our Senators a passion for Your glory. Help them to 

remember Your words: Those who exalt themselves shall be 

abased, and those who humble themselves shall be exalted. 

Today, I personally thank You for the gifts of TRENT and 

Tricia Lott. I praise You for their friendship, their faithfulness, and their fervor for You. As they leave the Senate, surround them with Your grace, power, and love. 

We ask this in the Name of Him who is perfection incarnate. Amen. 

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, yesterday was a 

day of tribute to one of our colleagues, a gentleman who has 

served his State and this country admirably for many years. 

I have not had the privilege to serve in the Senate with our 

colleague for as long a period as many of those who spoke 

yesterday, but I think we know it doesn’t take long to realize 

how important has been the contribution of the Senator from 

Mississippi to this institution. I listened yesterday to so 

many of the kind words. I heard repeated time after time: 

statesman, leader of an institution, truly a statesman. 

We all know of TRENT LOTT’s tremendous dedication to the 

institution that is Congress, 35 years of public service between the House and Senate, his creation of the whip organization in the House that emphasized Member-to-Member 

contacts and outreach that are so important in building relationships, election to the Senate in 1988, Senate majority 

leader in 1996, and then Republican whip earlier this year. 

We don’t want to lament the loss of a tremendous asset, but 

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we need to always remember to celebrate those accomplishments, learn from them. 

I learned that if there was a problem that needed to be resolved, you could go to TRENT to resolve it. When there was 

a compromise that needed to be brokered, TRENT could figure 

out how to make that happen. 

I learned that when there was a shortage of tomatoes at 

the Lott household, TRENT knew he could just go a couple 

doors down the street and find some tomatoes in a friendly 

neighbor’s yard. My husband and I have been neighbors with 

TRENT and Tricia these past 5 years. As neighbors, we share 

a lot of things. We share a lot of leaves. He blows the leaves 

down the sidewalk to my house, and my husband will blow 

the leaves back down to his house—good, friendly neighbors. 

I have always appreciated that. 

Truly, whether it is the quick conversation between Members during votes or whether it is the closed-door sitdown 

when he comes to the office and says: ‘‘Lisa, I want to talk 

to you about this,’’ TRENT knows the pulse of the Senate. 

I would watch him on the floor. He was like a butterfly. 

He would come over and alight next to somebody, have a 

quick conversation, a talk, and then he would move over to 

another area and do the same thing, kind of going from person to person, always working but always friendly and always working to find a path forward. His ability to develop 

those relationships and work out a deal to everyone’s satisfaction is a skill I certainly look to as a model for how the 

Senate should operate. 

It is with great fondness that I wish my friend, my colleague, my neighbor, well in his future endeavors. 

I wish him and Tricia well and truly love as they embark 

on their next adventure. We do know there will be adventures. I thank him for his friendship, his service to this Nation and to this institution. 

I thank the Chair and yield the floor. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania is recognized. 

Mr. CASEY. . . . Senator LOTT has left us. I had the privilege of presiding yesterday when I heard all of the 

testimonials to his service. I was honored to be a small 

part—a witness of that Senate history. We wish Senator 

LOTT and his family all of God’s blessings at this holiday season. But also beyond the season, we wish him the best of 

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luck in his new life outside of the Senate. We are grateful 

for his service. . . . 

Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I wish to take a few moments this morning to pay tribute to our colleague from Mississippi, Senator TRENT LOTT. 

Senator LOTT has been at the center of every major policy 

debate in the Congress for more than three decades. 

Senator LOTT was a fierce and effective advocate for limited government. No one who has been involved in debating 

budget, tax, or health policy with Senator LOTT—as I frequently did on the Finance Committee—can question his 

commitment to conservative principles of government. 

But what made Senator LOTT effective was that he understood that others had different views, and he understood the 

importance and art of compromise. He was driven to produce 

results, and he was unrelenting in his efforts to build coalitions to pass legislation and make things better for the 

American people. He recognized that, in the Senate, compromise is necessary to get things done. As majority leader, 

he was able to find policies that could hold his caucus together and at the same time win support from the Clinton 

White House and moderate Democrats. 

In more recent years, he has played a key behind-thescenes role in bridging differences between the parties. No 

one was better at counting votes and knowing the limits of 

his negotiating flexibility. When TRENT LOTT told you he 

could produce the votes for a proffered compromise, he delivered. You could count on it. 

Perhaps most important, Senator LOTT had an uncanny 

ability to persuade and cajole people to get a deal. He has 

a great sense of humor and a seemingly unparalleled ability 

to develop friendships and relationships with Members of 

Congress on both sides of the aisle and both ends of the Capitol. He always knows who the key players are, and what 

will bring them to the table. These skills have produced a 

great record of accomplishments for Mississippi and the Nation. 

Personally, I will miss his quick wit, his insights, and his 

friendship. As Senator LOTT prepares to leave the Senate, I 

wish him and his wife Tricia all the best. 

Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, Senator LOTT is a true gentleman: agreeable, good-humored and kind in nature. When 

I think of TRENT LOTT, the words consensus and congeniality 

come to mind. These words come to mind because TRENT has 

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become one of the greatest mediators this body has ever 

seen, his ability to bring all parties on an issue to the table 

and when the negotiations are done, each person leaves with 

a smile on their face. Senator LOTT’s humor and affable personality made working with him a pleasure, even when a 

compromise could not be found and the time for negotiating 

was over, nobody would leave the table feeling alienated or 

hurt. They left with TRENT still a friend and eager to work 

on the next solution. 

TRENT LOTT’s 35 years of service to his country as a Member of Congress will forever be remembered in chapters of 

our Nation’s history and by his constituents of Mississippi. 

But the one who deserves just as much thanks and gratitude 

is his college sweetheart and wife Tricia. While TRENT has 

been dedicated to his job and country for the past 35 years, 

he has been devoted to his family. 

Senator LOTT’s congeniality could be attributed to his 

humble beginnings, southern upbringing, or a number of 

things, but no matter the reason he still remains a humble 

man with many friends and a man who is truly kind to others. As I have grown to know him through our work here in 

the Senate, I have seen that his kindness stretches beyond 

the walls of his duties on this floor and to all who encounter 

him. TRENT always has a smile on his face and extends 

pleasantries to everyone he passes. Here in Washington, it 

is easy for one to be consumed by self-importance and it is 

easy to forget to treat others as we wish to be treated, but 

he never did. While in the lobby of another office, Senator 

LOTT will have a candid conversation with the much overlooked staff manning the front desk or anyone in his path— 

he will go out of his way to make sure everyone is greeted 

with a warm hello. 

I have agreed with Senator LOTT on many issues, and I 

have disagreed with him on many as well, but in each scenario we always ended with a handshake and a good laugh. 

This institution is losing a man who could bring people together and allow bitter enemies to lay down their swords. 

This is a man who will be missed by many, and I wish 

Senator LOTT the best of luck as he retires from his years 

of political service. 

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 

a distinguished colleague from the great State of Mississippi, 

Senator TRENT LOTT. 

As a reformer, a defender, and a leader, TRENT LOTT

leaves behind a legacy in the U.S. Senate, the fruits of which 

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we will reap for years to come. In 1996, TRENT joined with 

colleagues to enact a historic welfare reform bill. He pushed 

for reform again when he supported President Bush’s tax cut 

package early on in the administration. TRENT has never 

been afraid to step forward in faith toward what he knows 

is right. 

A champion for a strong national defense, TRENT supported the President’s military action in Iraq as well as increased defense spending. As a defender himself, TRENT understands the importance of a strong military and the value 

of rewarding those who valiantly serve this country. In 1998, 

he urged Congress to raise the pay for our military men and 

women, an act that hadn’t occurred in a decade. 

As the first man to serve as the whip in both the House 

and the Senate, TRENT could not have accomplished any of 

the aforementioned achievements and many others without 

his innate ability to lead. Leadership is not easy. The weight 

of good leadership is often a difficult load to bear, but TRENT

LOTT upheld his roles as Senator, majority leader and whip 

with an admirable level of dignity and integrity throughout 

his tenure. 

As a new Senator, I have been touched by TRENT’s candor, 

patience, unique charm, and by observing the tremendous relationship he has with his wife Tricia. Professionally, I have 

benefited greatly from his knowledge and experience about 

how to effectively make a difference in the U.S. Senate. He 

is a gifted negotiator, and his strong leadership will be greatly missed. For more than three decades, Senator LOTT has 

been a great public servant to the people of Mississippi in 

Congress. I extend my best wishes to TRENT and Tricia as 

they begin the next phase of their lives together. 

Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise to wish farewell to an 

honored colleague and a good friend: Senator TRENT LOTT. 

TRENT served in Congress for 35 years, and has represented 

the State of Mississippi in the Senate for 19; during that 

time, he distinguished himself as both a dedicated and effective party leader, and a symbol of bipartisan compromise. 

Few Senators play both roles so well. 

Those who know TRENT often describe his personal charisma and his natural leadership abilities. Those abilities 

have been on display for decades, manifesting themselves as 

early as his college days at Ole Miss, where TRENT was a 

fraternity president, a cheerleader, and a well-known presence on campus. TRENT brought his budding political skills 

to Washington, where he served as a staffer on Capitol Hill 

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before he was elected to Congress himself, in the first of a 

long series of wide-margin victories. 

From 1973 to 1989, TRENT represented Mississippi’s conservative Fifth District, serving on the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate scandal, as well as in the Republican leadership. As Republican whip, he helped build 

broad coalitions to pass important domestic and national security legislation. 

In 1988, TRENT was elected to the Senate by 8 percentage 

points over his opponent and never again faced a close race, 

winning reelection overwhelmingly in 1994, 2000, and 2006. 

His skill at negotiation made him a Senate natural, and his 

party entrusted him with its highest leadership responsibilities: majority whip in 1995; majority leader in 1996; and, in 

a widely remarked-upon comeback, whip again just last year. 

Newt Gingrich called TRENT ‘‘the smartest legislative politician I’ve ever met.’’ And though I often disagreed on the 

issues with TRENT, not to mention Newt, I just as often admired his acumen. I couldn’t begin to list the important legislation shepherded through this body by the Senator from 

Mississippi: education reform, defense spending, trade legislation, the ratification of NATO expansion, the creation of 

the Department of Homeland Security, and much more. But 

even as he worked on matters of national and international 

import, he always had time for the people of Mississippi: he 

helped expand his State’s highway system, brought research 

funding to its universities, and dedicated himself to Mississippi’s economic recovery in the wake of Hurricane 

Katrina. Indeed, the challenges posed by that destructive 

storm convinced TRENT to put off retirement until this year; 

and I am sure that the people of his State are grateful for 

the time he could lend to their recovery efforts. 

In his memoirs, TRENT compared leading the Senate to 

herding cats. But today, at least, the Members of this most 

difficult body have found some unanimity: We are united in 

our affection for TRENT LOTT and in our sadness at his departure. We will miss his legislative talent, his rich baritone, 

his taste in seersucker suits, and his fine head of hair. But 

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we trust that he and his dear wife Tricia have many happy 

years ahead, and we wish them all the best. 

TUESDAY, January 22, 2008 

Mr. LUGAR. I join my Senate colleagues in expressing our 

confidence that many wonderful adventures lie before our 

friend, TRENT LOTT, and his family, even as we are saddened 

by his plans to leave the Senate. 

Tributes to TRENT will include praise of his extraordinary 

leadership abilities, his thoughtfulness for others, his physical strength and endurance during long sessions of work, his 

even temper and good humor, and even his vocal performance talents. 

But Senate insiders will usually turn to the concept of 

‘‘TRENT the Vote-Counter’’ in an attempt to identify how and 

why our friend succeeded on so many occasions while many 

colleagues did not fare so well. I would not suggest for a moment that TRENT lacked any counting ability, but I would 

suggest that a search for his crystal ball misses a major 

point. TRENT was successful because he convinced people 

that they should support him and demonstrate that support 

by voting for him. 

Long before he announced his interest in elective office or 

commenced ‘‘herding cats’’ on the House or Senate floors, 

TRENT studied the Congress with the benefit of his able mentors, and he learned the fundamentals of how they had 

gained election in his home State of Mississippi. TRENT

learned that long before any vote counting commenced, the 

fundamental task was to win hearts, minds, and trust of individual voters, and that requires evaluation of interests, the 

best arguments delivered in the most appropriate language 

with the best selection of time and place, and the steady development of trust. 

We watched TRENT win elections in Mississippi, from afar, 

but we have witnessed his House and Senate leadership 

races up close. He faced strong and able opposition. He was 

a graceful winner. He fulfilled all expectations and promises, 

and we know he will continue to do so. 

TRENT, I thank you for loyal friendship, personal encouragement, and the times we have enjoyed great experiences 

together. I pray for your continuing good health and vitality 

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which will make possible the enjoyment of your loving family 

and your service to others. 

WEDNESDAY, January 30, 2008 

Mr. SUNUNU. Mr. President, across America, those citizens who have on occasion chosen—or been required—to listen to congressional debate have often heard the Senate described as an institution. It is a term which has been overused and perhaps misused more than once, but I believe it 

is quite appropriately applied in observing that with Senator 

TRENT LOTT’s departure, we have lost a reservoir of institutional knowledge, knowledge which has been of enormous 

value to Members of every political stripe for many years. 

The breadth of TRENT LOTT’s experience—on both sides of 

the aisle, in both Chambers of Congress, as back bencher, 

and as a member of leadership—has given him an insight 

into and understanding of the legislative process unique 

among his peers. We have heard many colleagues describe 

the effect of that experience when combined with the persuasive personality of the Mississippi gulf coast: No one counted 

votes better, and perhaps more important, no one enjoyed it 

more. 

Within our caucus, in committee rooms, and on the floor, 

TRENT could rely time and again on the great friendships 

and professional respect developed through years of hard 

work. Even more valuable perhaps, he understood the unusual psychology, decisionmaking, and ego unique to Members of Congress. We all perceive the important role these 

factors play in our work; few have been able to master them 

to their use. 

For TRENT, however, counting votes was only the means to 

a more important end—being an effective Senator. He has 

long been a strong voice for the State of Mississippi, but he 

has also developed the habit of finding his way to the center 

of the legislative storm at the crucial moment when a final 

deal is struck. 

On matters of policy, I have worked both alongside and 

against TRENT—even coming out ahead once or twice. Those 

rare events have revealed him to accept loss gracefully, negotiate in good faith, and accept compromise without conceding 

principle. These are traits essential to integrity and stability 

in governance, but also traits that strengthened his hand for 

the next battle. 

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Thus, the experience, the ability, the institutional knowledge we lose is very real. I count Senator LOTT as more than 

a valued colleague; he is also a valued friend. As a Senator, 

in my first term, I have always been able to count on TRENT

for sound and thoughtful advice, which always reflected his 

sincere concern for the personal well-being, career, and family of all with whom he served. I always took confidence from 

the fact that he unabashedly placed family at the top of his 

priorities, and understood that our public service should not 

take place at our families’ expense. 

Mr. President, although I am the youngest Member of the 

U.S. Senate, and still serving in my first term, I am grateful 

to Senator LOTT for his commitment to keeping the Senate 

strong. The Framers of our Constitution saw the Senate as 

the legislative body that would maintain an even keel, engage in meaningful debate, and forge legislation through the 

art of compromise that addresses the challenges of our day. 

Through successes and failings, TRENT has always been true 

to this purpose. Most important to him, he has also been 

true to his constituents, and to his family. I trust that these 

priorities will continue to guide him, and know they will 

bring him success for many years to come. 

THURSDAY, January 31, 2008 

Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I want to take this opportunity to say a few words about my friend and colleague, 

Senator LOTT. 

Senator LOTT has compiled a long and distinguished career 

in public service on behalf of the people of Mississippi and 

our Nation. He has been a tireless advocate on behalf of the 

needs of his State and its people, particularly in light of the 

devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina. Senator LOTT

also fought for our men and women in military uniform to 

ensure they have the best training, equipment, and technology available. Throughout his career, he believed that the 

American people should be able to keep more of their own 

money instead of sending it to Washington. Finally, Senator 

LOTT understood and appreciated the fact we need judges on 

the Federal bench who will uphold the law, not make the 

law. 

During his time in the Congress, he has been an active 

participant in many important legislative battles. The votes 

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he has cast and the policies he supported have made the 

State of Mississippi and our Nation a better place. 

Senator LOTT is in a select group of individuals who have 

held leadership positions in both the House of Representatives and Senate. He has served as House minority whip, 

Senate majority leader, Senate minority leader and Senate 

minority whip. His election to these important leadership positions in both bodies show a high level of trust and respect 

from his colleagues. 

With his departure the Senate will lose one of its most effective Senators and the people of Mississippi will lose a 

powerful advocate. I truly appreciate his leadership, service 

in the Senate, and service in the House of Representatives, 

wit, wisdom, and friendship. 

I wish him the best of luck in all future endeavors. 

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Proceedings 

in the House of Representatives 

WEDNESDAY, December 19, 2007 

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I hadn’t intended 

to give a 1-minute today, but I just got off the telephone with 

one of my dear friends, the Senator from the great State of 

Mississippi, the Honorable TRENT LOTT. 

Yesterday was his last day in the U.S. Senate. After a distinguished career in both the House of Representatives and 

the U.S. Senate, he is resigning effective, I assume, today or 

tomorrow, whenever the other body goes out. 

I have known TRENT LOTT for the 23 years that I have 

been in the House of Representatives. When I first got elected, he was the minority whip here in the House. He is one 

of the wisest men, in terms of political knowledge, that I 

have ever been around in my political career. He is a great 

guy personally. He has a great family. He has served not 

only his State, but his country, with exemplary distinction 

for the many odd years that he has been in the House and 

the Senate. 

We are going to miss the Honorable TRENT LOTT of the 

Magnolia State of Mississippi, and I want to wish him and 

his family the very best this holiday season and in the years 

ahead. 

God bless TRENT LOTT and his family. 

Æ