Evening star., 1944-02-24

oSANCO LAlot 6ICat 1OIllIQOlIWo311Q
continuously for . period Of a
years. Unless I am misinformed.
that constitutes a longer period
Of service than can be claimed
by any other previous Kentuckian
who has served In either branch
of the Congress.
When my present term in the
Senate shall have expired, I will
have served in this body for l8
years continuously, which is a
longer period than any previous
Kentuckian can claim for con-
tinuous service In the Senate.
Mr.. President, out Of the full
ness of my heart, I entertain a
profound gratitude to the people
Of my State for giving me the
opportunity to serve them and
the Nation during this tragic Pc
riod of our history.
On the 9th day of next July,
I will have served as majority
leader of this body for seven
years. You may be surprised to
know that so far as I have been
able to trace the record back in
senatorial history, this is nearly
twice as long as any other man
has served as majority leader
Of this body in any political
party.
Mr.. President, this is the first
time during that long service,
which I had thought was hon
orable, when I have been accused
deliberately of voting for . bill
that constituted q relief meas.
ure impoverishing the needy and
enriching the greedy.
Carried Presidents "Flag1
For Period Of IL Years.
Mr.. President. for IL years, I
have carried to the best of nv
ability the nag of Franklin D.
Roosevelt. For the past seven
years, have carried the nag OF
this administration as majority
leader of the Senate, and during
these years I have borne that nag
with pride because I felt that
President Roosevelt in himself
constituted a dynamic leader in
the great crisis in the history of
our country and the world for
whom the. people yearned.
/ dare say that during the past
seven years Of tenure as ma.
jority leader, I have carried that
flag over rougher territory than
was ever traversed by any pre-
vious majority leader. Sometimes
I have carried it with little help
here on the Senate floor and
more frequently with little help
from the other end Of Pennsyl-
vania Avenue.
Whether I have made a GOOD
majority leader, an Indifferent
majority leader or q pad majority
leader, the record itself ~ill
speak. There Is nothing in that
record that I would now change:
there is nothing In that record
that I would not repeat under the
same circumstances that existed
during this course of my leeis-
latiye history.
But Mr.. President, there Is
something more precious to ne
than any honor that can be con.
fcrred upon me by the Senate Of
the United States or by the
people Of Kentucky or by the
President of this Republic, and
that Is the approval of my own
conscience and my own self-re-
spect. That self-respect and the
rectitude of that conscience I
propose on this occasion to main.
tain.
Calls on Congress
To Override Veto.
! thank Heaven that my future
happiness does not depend upon
whether I shall retain sthe post
OF majority leader Of the Senate
ior another hour. As proof that,
Mr.. President, and In confirma-
tton OF this statement, I have
called conference of the Demo-
cratic majority for 10:30 o'clock
tomorrow morning IN the con-
ference room of the Senate ONCE
Building, at which time my res
ignation will be rendered and my
services terminated in the post
which now hold at this desk
Before leaving 1t, Mr.. President,
/ wish to say that I have disa-
greed many times with my col.
leagues here on both sides of the
political aisle, but I have sought
to earn their respect and their
esteem. I wish to express my
deep appreciation for the cour.
tesies which ! have Uniformly re.
ceived before I depart from this
station. / shall carry with me to
my dying day the most sacred
memories II long and honorable
service In the Two branches of
the Congress of the United States.
Mr.. President, let me say, In
conclusion. that II the Congress
Of the United States has any SELF
respect yet left, 1t will override
the veto Of the President and
enact this tax bill into law, bis
objections to the contrary not
withstsnding.