January 12, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S279 

amongst his Senate colleagues. He 

served a stint running the Democratic 

Senatorial Campaign Committee. 

By 1987, he had risen to become 

chairman of the Senate Rules Committee. That position put him in 

charge of the inaugural ceremonies at 

the Capitol for both Presidents George 

H.W. Bush in 1989 and Bill Clinton in 

1993. Kentuckians were proud to see 

one of their own on the inaugural platform just footsteps away from the new 

President. 

Wendell was chairman of the Joint 

Committee on Printing where he 

worked to trim the costs of Government printing and implemented the 

first ever program for the use of recycled printing paper. That may not be 

the type of issue that grabs the biggest 

headlines, but, obviously, official 

Washington uses a lot of paper. Wendell was ahead of his time in making 

these environmentally friendly efforts 

that are commonplace now, and he 

saved taxpayers millions of dollars. 

Wendell could see the absurdity of 

some of what goes on in Washington 

and knew just when to break the tension with a little humor. One former 

colleague has spoken of one of the 

many times the Senate has continued 

in session until 3:30 or 4 o’clock in the 

morning, with debate still going on on 

the Senate floor. At one of these times, 

Wendell nudged the Senator next to 

him and said: You know, the people 

back home think that we are the ones 

who won. 

Wendell even appeared once on the 

cable channel MTV on a program 

called ‘‘Rock the Vote’’ because of his 

sponsorship of the motor voter law. 

That MTV appearance made him very 

popular with his grandchildren. Surely 

the number of U.S. Senators who have 

appeared sandwiched in between videos 

for Whitney Houston and Billy Ray 

Cyrus is very small. 

In 1990, Wendell’s colleagues, as my 

friend the majority leader pointed out, 

elected him to be No. 2 in their party 

in the Senate, the Senate whip. He held 

that slot until his retirement in 1999. 

Wendell was elected by acclamation 

and without opposition. That is obviously a position of great responsibility 

and honor, and it speaks to the respect 

Wendell commanded from his fellow 

Senators. 

After his election as whip, he said: In 

Kentucky, we are known for our 

horses. I plan on being a workhorse and 

not a show horse. 

I think knowing Wendell’s work 

ethic, no one doubted he would give his 

all to the job. 

In March of 1998, Wendell became the 

longest serving Senator in Kentucky 

history, breaking the record of the man 

he had seen giving a speech more than 

50 years earlier, Alben Barkley. That is 

just another accomplishment in a long 

list that he has amassed over his extraordinarily successful tenure in both 

State and Federal Government. 

Wendell Ford served in this body for 

8,772 days, a record that stood for nearly 11 years until January 10, this past 

Saturday. He never lost an election for 

public office. Kentucky sent him to the 

U.S. Senate four times, and he was the 

first statewide candidate to carry all 

120 counties. 

How does a country boy from Yellow 

Creek achieve such success at the highest levels of American politics? I think 

because no matter where he ended up, 

Wendell Ford never forgot from where 

he started from. Even in his final 

months in the Senate, he still got 

goose bumps every time he looked up 

at the Capitol dome on his way to 

work. He remained the same man, partial to a cigarette and a down-home 

tale. 

When his duties didn’t require him to 

be in Washington, he would return 

home to Kentucky, as he did most 

weekends throughout his Senate career. A 3-day weekend was a perfect 

chance to go to the house he and his 

family owned by Rough River Lake and 

do some reading and fishing. He once 

said his idea of a vacation was ‘‘not 

shaving and not wearing a suit.’’ 

Wendell Ford never forgot the truly 

important things in his life—his wife 

Jean, their children and grandchildren, 

and the simple pleasures of his native 

Kentucky. 

Many of my colleagues will remember his trademark greeting when he 

walked into a room. He would say: How 

are all you lucky people doing? Sometimes that would be shortened to simply: Hey, Lucky! 

But Wendell never lost sight that he 

was truly the lucky one for receiving 

the trust of the people of Kentucky 

many times over. He would be the first 

to tell you that, and Kentucky and our 

Nation are lucky as well for having had 

his many years of service. 

Over the next 6 years, as I work my 

hardest to better the lives of everyone 

in Kentucky and the country, I am 

going to remember the lessons learned 

from Wendell Ford’s long career. I will 

remember how his life is a testament 

to the success anybody in America can 

attain, even a country boy from Yellow 

Creek. I will remember what an honor 

it is to continue in the tradition of 

Wendell Ford and so many other fine 

public servants who have come from 

the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Their 

service will continue to remind me 

every day that with energy, determination, and principle, being the Senator 

from Kentucky is the best job I could 

ever hope to have. 

Mr. President, I yield the floor. 

f 

RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 

leadership time is reserved. 

f 

MORNING BUSINESS 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 

Senate will now proceed to a period for 

the transaction of morning business for 

1 hour. 

The Senator from Tennessee. 

f 

TRIBUTE TO MITCH MCCONNELL 

Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, 

those who have been listening and 

watching for the last few minutes got 

one good lesson on why Senator 

MCCONNELL has been here for over 24 

years. This is a day to honor him, but 

he spent virtually all of his time honoring someone else. 

It is a remarkable and rare event 

that Senator MCCONNELL could serve 

longer than Wendell Ford, the man he 

just honored, longer than Henry Clay, 

longer than John Sherman Cooper, and 

longer than Alben Barkley. But all of 

us know longevity by itself is not a 

transcending virtue, but it is an indication of one of the most transcending 

virtues; and that is, the people of Kentucky for the last 24 years have seen 

something special in MITCH MCCONNELL, something that is good for Kentucky, in the opinion of Kentuckians, 

and something that is good for our 

country. I have seen that, too, but for 

a longer period of time than 24 years; 

40 years, to be exact. 

I remember when MITCH MCCONNELL

came to Washington, not the time he 

was an intern but as the legislative director for Senator Marlow Cook. Legislative director is a little bit of a 

puffed-up title for the job at that time, 

because in the office of Senator Baker 

of Tennessee, where I had been the year 

before, there was only one legislative 

assistant. So we were legislative directors of usually one or two people at a 

time, which may seem pretty hard for 

staff members in this Senate to understand. 

I remember that by 1969, I moved 

over to work for Bryce Harlow in the 

Nixon White House. Howard Baker, 

who had been a good friend of Marlow 

Cook, the new Senator from Kentucky, 

came to me and said: Marlow Cook has 

a bright young man working for him; 

you ought to get to know him. 

So I did, 40 years ago. 

We both stayed in Washington for a 

while. We both went home after a few 

years, and in 1978, 30 years ago, we both 

were elected to an executive position 

in our home States—I as Governor of 

Tennessee, and MITCH MCCONNELL as 

the county executive of Jefferson 

County, which is Louisville, the big 

county there. 

Then, in 1984, as the record shows and 

we all know, he was elected to the U.S. 

Senate, the only Republican in the 

country that year, I believe, who was 

able to defeat an incumbent Democrat. 

When Senator MCCONNELL and I were 

young staff assistants in the Senate, 

the leaders of the Senate were Senators 

Dirksen and Mansfield. There have 

been many great leaders of the Senate 

since that period of time. All of those 

leaders who were good—and most of 

them were—knew this body, knew the 

Senate. They knew human nature instinctively, but they had one other 

quality, and this is another quality 


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