That’s kind of like hearing your eulogy without having to die. Joe, that is just so nice. I am deeply honored. And John Castellani is right — to be here on an evening when Speaker John Boehner has the responsibilities that he has. And it’s just an incredibly effective job (he is doing). I can tell you, being in leadership, that John has just done a tremendous job. And then to hear those kind words from one of the nicest and most effective people I know in the U.S. Senate, Joe Lieberman, is truly heartening. Caryll and I are just so honored to be with all of you tonight. And I want to give special thanks also to Dan Danner, Foundation President Linda Dooley, our dinner Chair Joann Piccolo and the Foundation’s Board of Governors for presenting this incredible award.

I just have to say one more thing about Joe Lieberman. I’ve learned something in the Senate. You know, you talk to people on the floor. You’re always saying how are you doing? How’s your family? When you get to the point where Joe and I are, where you’re just about ready to leave, you start reflecting a little more. And I’ve asked people, “Who’s your best friend in the Senate?” I’m now up to fifty who say their best friend is Joe Lieberman. [applause]

I haven’t actually counted, Joe. But the truth of the matter is that there are so many of your colleagues who believe that you are their best friend, as do I; because there is no finer friend to have than you. And not only as a member of the Senate, but as a member of the human race, it doesn’t get any better than Joe Lieberman. And I’m deeply grateful for what you said tonight. [applause]

You all appreciate the fact that the Bryce Harlow Foundation provides an invaluable service and education to so many of Washington’s future leaders, especially at a time when lobbying has, as John pointed out, fallen into some disrepute. And relations between business and government have become too acrimonious. The Foundation reminds us that professional advocacy can and should reflect high ethical standards. And that restoring trust between public servants and private industry is essential to the future of American prosperity, the point that John just got through making to all of us.

Lobbying, which is the petitioning of our government, is constitutionally protected political speech. It is necessary to the proper functioning of our government. But in recent years, high profile Washington scandals have shown us what can happen when lobbyists abandon the sense of professional ethics or public purpose.

But there’s another form of lobbying that rarely generates the big headlines, the type of lobbying that was practiced by Bryce Harlow and that lives on today through the impressive work of the Foundation. Bryce represented the best of that Washington advocacy community. More than that, he represented the best of American public servants. During his tenure in the Eisenhower and Nixon Administrations, and later during his time as a representative of Proctor & Gamble, Bryce fought vigorously for public policies aimed at improving the general welfare without ever compromising his intellectual or personal integrity.

One of the reasons I know that is because my father told me so. My father, who served in Congress at the time from the state of Iowa, admired and worked with Bryce when he was in the Nixon White House. And I should also note that this afternoon as we were reflecting during one of seven or eight votes on the floor of the Senate, I was visiting with Lamar Alexander. Bryce Harlow had hired Lamar Alexander. And I’ll resist the temptation tonight to share with you some of the stories that Lamar told because I hope that he’ll have the opportunity someday to relate those stories to you personally.

But every one of them was reflective of the same thing that has been spoken of him tonight; of his high ethical standards, his great effectiveness because he was deemed totally trustworthy. And, of course, that characterizes tonight’s other honoree John Castellani. He has displayed the same commitment to passionate, ethical lobbying that serves the public interest. And through his leadership at the Business Roundtable and PhRMA, he’s earned the high respect, both from peers in the private sector and I can tell you, from those of us here in the government.

As I discussed earlier, the level of trust between business and government has declined which makes the mission of this foundation so incredibly important. Unless business and government can work together to increase America’s global competitiveness, our country may lose ground in the century ahead. In my view, responsible high minded pro-growth business advocacy has never been more critical, given the fragile condition of America’s economic recovery, new economic challenges from abroad, our looming financial crisis, the enormous political pressure to raise taxes on investment and income, the danger of costly new regulations and the rise of a bailout culture that has led to harmfulness allocations of capital.

All of this represents a huge challenge for us as we work to fix the breach between business and government. As you know, I’ll be leaving the Senate at the end of 2012. But I am heartened to know that the Bryce Harlow Foundation will still be here fulfilling its mission on behalf of honorable lobbying and sound public policy. Thank you all very much tonight for this prestigious award and for your success in hosting this wonderful event. [applause]

Well good evening everyone. Let me start by thanking my friend Mike Enzi for not just a thoughtful introduction, but just a wonderful introduction. I don’t know that I deserve this award but I’m not going to give it back and I’m very grateful to Mike for what he said. I said to him as he was leaving this taping today (and we were taping this around noon today about eight hours before the dinner); I said I should really be giving this award to you. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Mike Enzi for about a dozen years.

I first heard about him when I was governing, while I was chairman of the National Governors Association. He was a great partner to the governors, and I’m a recovering governor. We were looking for partners in the Congress and Mike Enzi turned out to be a great partner. He was results-oriented. He was focused on getting things done; he was great with respect to common sense. He’s very respectful of the rights of states. He saw the states as fifty laboratories of democracy that the Congress should work with, and I loved working with him then and even more now. Even though we didn’t end up with a bi-partisan healthcare bill (which is unfortunate), it wasn’t for a lack of trying on his part and on mine as well.

I want to congratulate Joel tonight for — I think he’s going to be receiving his award later today, but Amy Overton is a friend of yours in my office. She gives you her best and just a little shout out of congratulations to you. I just want to say congratulations to Bryce Harlow who I never met. When I came — was elected to Congress in ’82 — I never had the chance to meet him but the idea that somebody that lived that long ago, was that active over literally five decades, made such an impact. Thirty years later we’re still honoring his memory and not just honoring his memory, but actually honoring his memory by trying to instill in others today the kind of values that he lived by and the idea of integrity, which is what do we say about integrity? If you have it nothing else matters. If you don’t have it nothing else matters. The idea of him trying to instill that in certainly my colleagues and myself, but also those who serve, where you’re happy to serve your corporations and trying to work with government so we can get things done and to use some common sense and to do what’s right.

That’s a great legacy for him. So I just want to say to Linda Dooley and everybody that’s part of the foundation, thanks for keeping his memory alive and to those who worked very hard to make tonight’s event a success. I want you to know that I appreciate your efforts. I’m sorry we can’t be there in person. Our day job has gotten in the way. We’re actually doing a vote-a-thon, vote-a-rama tonight. We’re voting, I think, all night about every fifteen minutes on a different amendment. Sometime tomorrow we’ll probably collapse and call it a day and I’ll look forward to maybe getting on a train sometime late tomorrow night and going home.

I want to talk a little bit about Mike Enzi, as he mentioned our core values. We share these core values, and they’re worth repeating. The way I was raised — I was raised in — born in West Virginia, grew up in Danville and Roanoke Virginia. Right across the street from the house where we lived in Danville, Virginia was Woodlawn Baptist Church. My mom used to drive my sister and me there every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night and just about every Thursday night. Most people don’t think they have church on Thursday night but they did at that Woodlawn Baptist church.

More often than not we were there. My mom wanted to make sure that my sister and I understood the difference between right and wrong so we’d be more inclined to do what was right. She wanted to make sure that we internalized the golden rule to treat other people the way we wanted to be treated. I think that’s maybe the most important value that we can carry with us in our lives. My father retired as a chief petty officer in the Navy. I spent about twenty-seven years in the Navy. My dad used to say “the chiefs run the Navy; the chief petty officers run the Navy”. I found that later, he was right. He was tough as nails and my sister and I would know this when we had a job to do.

When we wouldn’t do it very well, he would just say (not this nicely) but he would say if a job’s worth doing it’s worth doing well. If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. He must have said that a thousand times. But like your parents probably said things to you that you eventually internalized, we internalized that as well. Everything I do I try to do it well and one of my core values is if it isn’t perfect, make it better. I try to instill that in every organization I’m a part of. My dad also would say to my sister and me, we’d pull some bone-headed stunt as kids, and he’d say just use some common sense. He didn’t say it that nicely. But he would say, just use some common sense.

One of the things I endeavor to do in all the roles I play in the Navy and state government and federal government and other endeavors, is I always try to use some common sense. My dad would be pleased to look down tonight to see that it finally, finally soaked in. The other thing is whenever I meet people who have done amazing things with their lives, one of the things I like to ask them is to what do you attribute your success? A lot of people say I just work very hard. Some people say I was just lucky and there’s a lot of truth to really both of those.

But a number of people say — I remember Ariel Sharron in particular, this was before he was stricken, said to me and I just had a moment together in Jerusalem, and I said to him to what do you attribute your great success? You’ve been on top, you’ve been on bottom, you’ve been thrown out of government, you’ve been sort of like cast aside and at the time he’d been resurrected and was leading the nation of Israel. I said to what do you attribute your success? He said I never give up. He kind of growled it out, “I NEVER GIVE UP.”

I find that a lot of people who are successful in life get that way because they just don’t give up. I know a lot of people who could have been somebody, could have done something. Whether it was healthcare reform — whether you agree with it or not, but the idea is you’re not giving up. You can get a lot done and it can inspire a lot of people as well. I have some guiding principles, and Mike Enzi’s heard me talk about these before. They guide me and the way I think and try to get things done in the Senate.

One of those is I believe — and it’s interesting Michael said this as well in his remarks — we believe that a major role of government is to provide a nurturing environment for job creation and job preservation. That’s not the only role of government. We don’t expect government to be a lap dog for business. But if in my business, if you’ve got companies that are successful, they’re making money, they’re paying taxes, they’re hiring people to work coming out of colleges and universities, out of high schools, off of unemployment rolls or coming off of welfare rolls or that sort of thing; if you’ve got that going for you, really the rest is pretty easy. So I’ve focused a lot of my life on trying to provide that nurturing environment.

I believe the role of government — I kind of agree with Lincoln who said that the role of government is to do for the people what they cannot do for themselves. I found that David Osborne said it just a little bit differently. David used to say the role of government is to steer the boat, not to row the boat. To steer the boat, not to row the boat. I think that’s a good foundation, underpinning for me and again the understanding that we need a nurturing environment for job creation.

If people have a job, companies are successful and we’re going to get a lot done in this country. The role of government, again, is to do for the people what they can’t do for themselves. Another guiding principle for me is something that Albert Einstein used to say. I don’t know a lot of people who quote Einstein, but I do. One of the things that Einstein used to say a lot; he said in adversity lies opportunity. Think about that. In adversity lies opportunity. When I see nuclear waste — spent nuclear fuel lines piling up in nuclear power plants — I’m an advocate of nuclear power. I think there’s opportunity there. When I see carbon dioxide coming out of coal fired power plants, I think there’s opportunity there. When I see our huge and growing dependence of foreign oil, I see an opportunity there and a lot of times we see economic opportunities which can turn into job creation and innovation and technology for us and for our country. Part of the role of government is to help us to realize that potential.

I want to close this, if I can, with just a couple of other thoughts and one of those is I’m going to go back to the core value that Mike and I share. That is to treat other people — we want to treat other people the way we want to be treated. There’s a guy named Barry Black; some of you have heard of him, former Navy Admiral; he’s chief of chaplains for the Navy and Marine Corps; First African-American to hold that job, first African-American to the chaplain for the United States Senate. Barry Black likes to say the cliff notes of the New Testament is really the Golden Rule — treat other people the way we wanted to be treated. It’s something that all of us, I think, would be wise to remember, including the young people that are there tonight who are enjoying fellowships because of the money that’s raised this evening.

So keep that one in mind; to treat other people the way we wanted to be treated. I think if we do that, if we all remember to do that, that’s just a huge thing for us to do. I remember, going back to that Einstein quote about in adversity lies opportunity; I remember when I was 17 years old in high school, I wanted to go to the Air Force Academy. I had been a Civil Air Patrol Cadet and I wanted to fly airplanes and I applied for the Air Force Academy. I applied too late to be considered in my senior year. I was very disappointed and I came from a family without a lot of money.

I remember sitting in homeroom one day — you probably remember sitting in homerooms in your own high school. But sitting in homeroom one day and the announcement on the PA during morning announcements. Anybody interested in wining a Navy scholarship, go see your guidance counselor. And I went to see my guidance counselor because I knew I needed help to go to college. And she told me about something called Navy ROTC. At the time I could not spell ROTC. In any event, if I managed to win the scholarship and go to a college, they’ll help pay your tuition, books and fees and send you off to be trained as a naval officer.

And I said boy, that’s for me and I applied and I won the scholarship of my life. It just gave me a chance to see the world, make great friends, and learn a lot about leadership and the opportunities I have today. I was the only one in my school who went to see the guidance counselor to find out about that scholarship.

In 1970 I ran for state treasurer when I was 29. Nobody else wanted to run; I was the only one in the Democratic Party who said we’d run. The Republicans had a good candidate. Nobody wanted to run against him and I did because nobody else wanted to. I got to run six years later for Congress. Nobody wanted to run; we had a three term incumbent Republican Congressman and nobody wanted to run against him. I said that I would and I got to run against Senator Bill Rock in 2000 because no one else wanted to. And so in adversity lies opportunity and it’s easy to find that opportunity within that adversity.

Last thing I want to say, if I can. Again, this is more to the young people there that are being trained to the careers that a lot of you have realized. But the idea that it’s important to figure out what’s the right thing to do and just do it. Really, don’t… sometimes my staff comes to me and says, well you should do this because politically it’s the right thing, the easier thing to do; less controversial thing to do. I just say, what’s the right thing to do? Let’s just figure that out and let’s do that. And I find it’s a lot easier when we use that as our benchmark.

Let me close again by saying how grateful I am to those of you who have seen fit to allow me to follow in the footsteps of Rob Portman and Steny Hoyer and John Boehner and a bunch of others who’ve been honored in previous years; a bunch of my buds. I’m honored to be in their company; honored to be introduced by my friend Mike Enzi. I got to work in a building called the Hart Building — named after Philip Hart, former Senator from Michigan. And I’ll close with his words; at least I’ll paraphrase his words. He said something like this when he was leaving the Senate. I’m not leaving just yet, but he said, I leave much as I arrived, understanding fully the nature of the challenge that we face in this nation, but confident that if we give it our best, we’ll come close to realizing the goals that we set for us as a nation.

These are challenging times for our nation. You know that and I know that. But as Einstein said, in adversity lies opportunity and we’ve overcome a lot in the history of this country and we have a lot of good years ahead of us. If we keep that in mind — in adversity lies opportunity — keep in mind the words of Philip Hart, and if we keep in mind the example of Bryce Harlow, we’ll do just fine. Thanks so much. God bless. Thank you.

I just hope my colleagues do not assess the plane has having crashed. What can I say about Dick Gephardt? Dick Gephardt was my candidate for president twice. Twice I believed he was the best person to lead our country in a time of challenge. Dick Gephardt, who was my leader; Dick Gephardt, who in 1981 when I went to the Congress, although a young member of Congress, was already perceive to be one of our leaders, who quickly became the leader, who led us in the majority and led us in the minority. And in both capacities, he did so with dignity, with thoughtfulness, with integrity, caring about each one of us and caring about each country, and carrying about the other side; caring about each and every one of the members, Republican and Democrat.

Dick Gephardt was a great example of how to be a Majority Leader. Dick Gephardt and Jane are my dear and close friends. They knew my wife extraordinarily well. And Judy loved Jane. Judy thought Jane had the sort of same, a little bit of cynicism about all of these politicians who wear the scarlet P if you will. But Jane, thank you for being such a good friend of Judy’s. Thank you for being such an extraordinary partner of Dick’s. And Dick, thank you for being a great leader of our country, great leader of our party and my great friend.

Now, they said Susan Schwab was going to introduce Ken Duberstein. I know Susan Schwab. Susan Schwab is a good friend of mine. I don’t know who introduced Ken Duberstein. I listened intently to the introducer. She never once mentioned Columbia or Panama. It could not have possibly been Susan Schwab.

Susan is my dear friend and she introduced another dear friend. Ken, I appreciate the kind words you said about me. Where’s Ken? Oh, right in front of me. Ken Duberstein has been my friend, as he said, for a long, long time. We worked together when he was in the White House. I was always prepared to listen to Ken because I respected him. I respected his intellectual ability and his intellectual integrity. And he always told me the truth. Sometimes we agreed; sometimes we did not. But Ken was always an extraordinarily good representative, not just of the administration, not just of Ronald Reagan and not just of the successors to Ronald Reagan as Republican presidents, but of the best that is in our country. Ken Duberstein is worthy of your recognition. And Bryce Harlow would be proud of Ken Duberstein. Thank you, Ken Duberstein.

I have served with some extraordinarily fine members of the Congress of the United States. And two of my closet friends beyond Dick are in this room. One a member of my party who gave me one of the first contributions I got from a member of Congress when I ran in the special election of 1981. He gave me a contribution of $500. I had never gotten a contribution of more than $100 or $200 running for the state senate. And I thought that was a lot of money. I look back on that as I am contributing to members very substantial sums of money that you contribute and pass through me and thank you very much. I was chairman of the Caucus. He was the vice chair. But he was senior to me. And clearly, he could have been chair and I, vice chair. And had he stayed in the Congress in my view, he would be the speaker of the House. And I’d be hopefully the majority leader of the House. What an honor it would have been to serve with him as the speaker. Dick and I had the honor of serving with him. And I want to say how much he’s meant to my service in the Congress and to my career. And what a great example he gives not only as a member of Congress, but as a member of the profession that is such an honorable one in this city. My friend, Vic Fazio. Vic, thank you.

I’m sure there are other members here. And I can tell that Ken Duberstein right off was a lobbyist. And he didn’t have to tell me he was a lobbyist. Because he said even though you’ve gone to the other side, you’re still my friend. I said that’s a lobbyist.

But there’s another gentleman in this room who’s not in my party. But he’s my fellow citizen; and my friend. And he represents in my view as fine a person who has served in the Congress of the United States during my term for twenty-nine years. He also in my view should have been speaker of the House. In fact, I went up to Ray LaHood about two weeks into the session in January of 1995. I went up to Ray LaHood and I said, Ray, I think I can guarantee you about 197 votes. All you need to get, therefore, is another 22. And we’ll make Bob Michael the Speaker of the House. What extraordinary integrity, good humor; and the best representative of how we ought to reach across to one another as human beings. There’s only one way to get to the House of Representatives. You can’t be appointed to the House of Representatives. You can’t be appointed to the United States Senate. The only way is for your neighbors, your fellow citizens in your community, whether it’s Peoria or St. Mary’s County or St. Louis to say to you that I have enough trust and faith in you to elevate you to a job of extraordinary responsibility, making decisions for me. My view is those who serve in the Congress of the United States are representatives of our country. And because our country, in my view, is overwhelmingly good, whether, as our president pointed out, is red or blue. It’s not red or blue. It’s the United States of America. Bob Michael was the finest representative of that concept that I know in the Congress of the United States. Bob Michael, thank you for your service and for your friendship.

Congress shall make no law abridging the right of the people peacefully to assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances. What a critical right our founding fathers thought that was. One of the best lobbyists in this room is Father Bill George who represented Georgetown Law … Georgetown University. I went to the law school. I tell people, by the way, I didn’t go to a Catholic school. I went to Georgetown. Those of you who know the Jesuits know exactly what I mean.

Bill George was born in St. Mary’s County, a county in which I live. Bill George, an extraordinary lobbyist, representative. Congress shall make no law to abridge the right of the individuals to redress their grievances and petition their government. That is the right you exercise every day, a right written into the Constitution. No one should criticize that pursuit, that critical pursuit to the success of our democracy. What’s important is that it be exercised, of course, ethically. As I need to exercise my responsibilities ethically. And that the profession of lobbying is conducted honorably.

As Bryce Harlow said, and I quote, “If informed, responsible citizens will devote an increasing share of their organizational skills and ability to influencing public affairs, then America’s liberty and America’s future will be secure. That’s what you do every day. Those are the high standards symbolized by this award, named for a man who lived by them his whole life. As Ken, who knew him, and I did not, so ably described.

Tonight, I want to thank or talk briefly about what we in Congress can do to live by those standards as well. For me, it begins with respect for the work we do and the body in which we serve. I’m proud to be a partisan Democrat. But it’s easy to be so focused on partisan success that we can lose sight of everything else of value. There is something more important than the success of my party. It is, of course, the success of the health of the people’s house and the success of my country.

Contingent on that good name of the House is our authority and our ability to accomplish anything of value at all. If we lose that good name, if we lose the trust and faith of our public, the Congress will not function effectively. I am known as an institutionalist. I’m proud of that reputation – someone committed to constraining partisanship in many ways and that it never spills into abuse of power, no matter what short-term advantages it may garner. The overwhelming number of women and men with whom I’ve served have also been institutionalists. Members like the late Democratic Speaker Tip O’Neil, Bob Michael’s good friend, the former House Republican leader Bob Michael. To be sure, they did not shrink from legislative combat when the stakes required it. But because winning at all costs was never an option, they neither brought discredit on the House nor tolerated members of their respective parties who did. Bob Michael paid a price for that. I respect him for that.

Institutionalists understand that when a member of Congress is prepared to trade away his or her integrity, every one of us suffers. Because each time it comes to light, Americans lose not just faith in that individual, but faith in all of his colleagues. On the other hand, I think it’s clear the Democrats have built a much stronger recent record in waging the fight for high ethical standards. And yes, we’ve been joined by Republicans as well.

We Democrats campaign hard on ethics. Have we always met the criteria that we set? We have not. Have all of your colleagues always met the standard that you have set for yourselves? They have not. And when they do not, it affects each and every one of you and each and every one of us in the Congress of the United States. But the founding fathers knew well that if our democracy was going to work, it would work because people were able to retain, hire and have as their advocates people who understood how to make their point. People who understood their grievance and people who knew who was going to make decisions that would affect their lives, the lives of their children, and the lives of their business.

Very frankly, some of my best friends are lobbyists. And they will remain so throughout my tenure. Let me say to all of you who lobby daily that there are frankly many of us who know that the people that I deal with who lobby as a profession are the easiest people with whom I deal. Why? Because they know that we can disagree today and there’ll be a tomorrow. The people who I have difficulty dealing with believe there is no more tomorrow. For they only have one interest. And you’re either with them on that interest or you are finished from their perspective.

On the other hand, those of you who know your subject and bring me information and bring me people who I can talk to about how legislation will affect them, hopefully make the product I support a better one. And, yes, do we agree from time-to-time? Yes. Do we disagree from time-to-time? Yes. Do we continue, however, in the best tradition of that constitutional guarantee – continue to talk to one another; continue to respect one another; continue to make our individual enterprises better served?

In that respect each and every one of us in this room serves our country and our country’s interest. Do each and every one of us have a special interest? Of course, we do. Do each and every one of us have an obligation to look at that special interest in the bigger picture? Of course, we do. In the premise of our democracy working together, we will do that better. Thank you for this honor.

Thank you… Well how do you follow that? Pat is exactly right; he and I are interchangeable. Just a day or two ago as I was walking through the corridors, I heard someone explaining to the tour group that he was guiding. He said, now that’s Senator Biden and that’s Senator Collins, oh and here comes Senator Roberts. As I walked by I just took it and went on by, that it is amazing how often people think we’re the same. Al Simpson I can understand [LAUGHTER] because Al’s a little closer to my height, but I’m more then happy to be mistaken for Pat Roberts because that makes me much more humorous then I really am.

I am particularly honored by this award because Bryce Harlow was indeed not only one of my friends, but one of my mentors. When I came to Washington in 1963 and then went downtown as a lobbyist in 1964, timing was bad. I was a lobbyist at a day when lobbyists didn’t earn as much members. Now it’s, of course, the time to go the other direction, but it was a very different town in those days and the lobbying community, particularly those of us who represented corporations, was very small.

Most of the lobbying was done by trade associations and companies that would open Washington offices, didn’t do it very often. The community was small enough that we all knew each other, we all spent time with each other and we would trade information. We would sit down and swap stories, swap rumors and I got to know Bryce in that circumstance. Also, when we would get together on occasion for recreation, Bryce and I were the only two that didn’t play golf.

So we would sit and talk while everybody else was out on the golf course and I would sit at his feet – figuratively, not literally – and learn from this man whose, as you saw in the pictures, experience went all the way back to President Eisenhower. He invented the Congressional relations function in the government. He was the first real Congressional relations officer a President had and he filled that function for Eisenhower and during the Democratic period between Eisenhower and Nixon.

I had staffers on the White House staff for Democrats say, whenever we need to know something, we call Bryce Harlow and ask him, even though he was out of the White House and he was obviously a Republican operative. His reputation was so strong that he had that kind of relationship with Democratic Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, prior to going in with Nixon. So I took every opportunity I could as a very young man to try to get as much knowledge and as much information from this man as I could.

Now to illustrate how things worked in that world, we had a group very creatively known as the Breakfast Group because we met for breakfast. And it was once a month affair, we met over at the U.S. Chamber. There were 20 of us that belonged to the Breakfast Group and they were the 20 Fortune 500 companies who had Washington reps. And we would be briefed by the official of the Chamber who dealt with our kinds of issues and I remember he got hired to go to work for Armstrong Cork and we voted him in as a member and then voted to close the membership because 21 was getting too big.

And that was the size of the group and of course Harlow was a member of that group. We invited him to come back to our regular monthly breakfast group meeting to report to us about what as going on in the White House. He had just joined the Nixon administration; it was in the first month of the Nixon administration. He came in and regaled us with the tales of what was happening and as Pat as indicated, his tremendous analysis of what was going on. Pat had it exactly right; Bryce Harlow’s analysis was always right on.

And then he said to me, “I want to see you after.” Well, that was a little bit ominous, but as we sat there at the end of the breakfast, Bryce said to me – not necessarily these words, but this was the message – “If I have to give up my cushy corporate job to serve this administration, so do you. Go get measured for a suit, go over to the Department of Transportation. Show up; you’re going to be John Volpe’s head of congressional relations.” And I did. Now we had had a conversation before. I had made it clear I wanted a position in the Nixon administration.

And we had tried several other places that didn’t work for one reason after another. But I went over to the Department of Transportation and ran their congressional relations operation for two years. Bryce would have us come into the White House every Saturday and with a little bit of cross-fertilization of intelligence as we would each tell what was going on and get a feel for what was going on from the representatives in the other departments, always under Bryce’s very calm, quiet tutelage. And he would see to it that everything was on track.

After I left the administration and had my own shop, I remember pitching our services to a new client. And I was going through my background and experience, the fellow cut me off, he said, “Look. The position you held at the Department of Transportation is a patronage job. Who’s your patron?” And I said, “Bryce Harlow.” He said, “Oh. Well, under those circumstances then you probably are pretty good.” That was all the interview we needed, that Bryce Harlow had enough standing in this town that to be one part of his patronage was to be sufficient to get the client that you needed.

Now a lot of things happened; a lot went under the bridge after that. Let me close with this story. I left Washington in 1974, just two weeks before Richard Nixon did because Washington in 1974 was not a fun place for Republicans anymore, particularly Republicans who had served in the Nixon Administration. Like Nixon, I went to California. I went to work for Howard Hughes as the Director of Public Relations which is a little like being the medical advisor to the Christian Science Church. [LAUGHTER – APPLUASE]

I had a career. I became an entrepreneur by force of circumstance. Mr. Hughes died without telling anybody where he’d put the will and the relatives showed up from Texas and started firing all the Mormons. So I had to go create a company because nobody else would hire me. But while I was in that circumstance in California, I happened to read a piece in the paper about Bryce Harlow retiring. And I thought, you know, this man was an important man in my life. He probably has forgotten me.

But I haven’t forgotten him and I wrote him a little note, wishing him well on his retirement. I heard from him and then stayed in touch with him. And I heard of his very difficult health problems. Always a man of good humor, he called it Califano’s curse. It was emphysema. For those of you who didn’t know, Joe Califano was the member of the White House staff who was pushing tobacco legislation to try to stop people from smoking. Bryce always smoked Lark cigarettes and he explained to me why and there are only a few of you in the room who will understand.

He said, with a secretary named Studebaker, what else could I smoke? [LAUGHTER] You see the few who are old enough to remember the Studebaker Lark, alright, that was one of their cars. Not a very good one, but it was good joke. So on one occasion when I was in Washington on business for the firm that I was involved with at the time, I had a little extra time and I thought, I’m going to see Bryce. He was at the Arlington Hospital and I went there and said I’d like to see Bryce Harlow.

And they said, oh he’s in room such and such. I went down the hall and walked into the room and I was in the wrong room because the man lying there in the bed asleep, was clearly not Bryce Harlow. So I went back to the nurses’ station and said, pardon me, where is Bryce Harlow? And she gave me the same room number. And I thought, well. I went into the room and he was still asleep, his face was so puffed from the cortisone that they were giving him, that I didn’t recognize him.

He woke up before I could leave the second time and acted as if it was the most natural thing in the world for me to be there. He had had no notice at all that I was coming but he looked at me and said, well, hello. And the real Bryce Harlow was still there. We had a delightful visit. We reminisced a little about Watergate. I had gone to lunch with Bryce after Nixon had been re-elected and the two of us had talked and I said, “Bryce, the President has said that no one connected with the White House had anything to do with this break-in and that’s not true.”

And I won’t go into the details, the reason why I knew that was not true, because that’s a very painful period of my own experience. But, he said, “What are you talking about?” And we visited back and forth about this and he said, “Bob, this is going to blow over.” He said, “A few weeks; a few nasty editorials in the New York Times.” I said, “Bryce, it is not going to blow over. I’m too close to it. I know there are people on the White House staff at a high level who were involved. I don’t know who they are, but I do know that’s what it is and to save the presidency, you’ve got to find out who they are and fire them. The President has got to fire them.”

He said, “I’ve been in this town 27 years, I’ve never heard anything like that.” I said, “Bryce, the President’s going to be impeached if you don’t do that.” He said, “That’s amazing.” Alright, back to the hospital bed. It’s been – I don’t know how many years – and Bryce said to me, “You remember that lunch we had?” And I didn’t until he mentioned the Watergate connection and I said, “Yes, Bryce. I remember that luncheon.” He said, “After that lunch, instead of going to my office, I went to the White House and I gathered the senior staff.”

Now that’s an interesting thing for a lobbyist to do, but Bryce had enough clout that he could do that. He said, “I gathered the senior staff and I said to them” – and this made me feel very, very good. I said to them, “I’ve just had lunch with a Washington old-timer whose judgment I trust, who has told me the President will be impeached if we don’t find out who on the White House staff had engagement in Watergate.” He said, “It doesn’t matter how high they are, it doesn’t matter how important they are, we must find out who has violated the standards of integrity and been involved in this thing and they must be discharged.”

And then he said, “Bob, they all agreed with me and every one of them was guilty.” [LAUGHTER] Well, that was my last interview with Bryce. He said, “President Nixon was here yesterday. He came in kind of the same way I did, I suppose, and then he told me of his visit with President Nixon. This was a man who never lost perspective, who never let the problems that he faced in his health diminish his good humor or his determination to do the right thing. This was a man who took me at a time in my youth when I needed the sort of advice that he could give me and spent the time to act as one of my mentors.

To be honored with this award in his name is one of the pleasures of my entire Senate career and I thank you all.

I asked Nick why it (the award) was so much smaller than Tommy Boggs’ — thank you. Thank you to John and thank you to Nick. Nick Calio, congratulations for chairing a very successful dinner. It is great to see a lot of friends here tonight, former colleagues; former staff; former bosses. Congratulations to the Foundation — what a great program you have and I am really glad that so many of the fellows are here tonight.

To my friend Jim McCrery, thank you for your very kind words — way too kind, and your willingness to come here tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, Jim McCrery is a class act. He’s a steady voice of wisdom and experience and reason — not that that is needed in the U.S. Congress. Many of us predicted when he took on this manifold leadership of the Ways and Means Committee that we would see great things, and we’ve seen that. He has done a terrific job as was noted earlier, reaching across the aisle, focusing not on partisan results, but on results that help people.

His relationship with Chairman Rangel is already bearing fruit and I’m just delighted that Jim was willing to come tonight and I am very proud to call him my friend. I really hate to break up this all Louisiana night that they talked about — Linda Dooley informed me that this would have been a Mardi Gras theme if I had not been here. So I apologize to those of you who wanted to wear beads and eat etouffee, but you will be glad to know that John Breaux is hosting a Louisiana after-party — check in to Acadiana’s at about 11 pm and he will be there.

To Tom Boggs, I join John Breaux and others here tonight in congratulating you on a remarkable career. You know, I knew Tom Boggs back when, 23 years ago, I thought he was a pretty big deal. That’s when he made the decision to take a chance on a young lawyer and my first job out of law school was working at the Boggs firm. At that time, Tom Boggs was at the top of his game and it’s amazing, 23 years later, he is still at the top of his game. It is remarkable. As I said, he took a chance on me. Sadly, it didn’t work out too well for Patton Boggs.

After two years of great training in international trade law and probably very minimal productivity on my part, I fell in love with a young staffer on Capitol Hill and chose to move back to my hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio and get married, raise a family and that was Jane Dudley Wharton. As we did when I served in Congress, we have decided to keep our home in Cincinnati, so Jane came in tonight to see all of you and it’s been kind of fun.

We’ve been talking about how this is a little like a reunion because there are people here from my Congressional office, former members and friends from the greater Cincinnati area, friends from Patton Boggs; friends from so many of my former jobs, including Nick Calio, who worked with me in the first Bush White House. So it’s just really, really fun to have Jane here and to be with you all. The members of my family are the ones who deserve the award. Jane and our three kids – Jed, Will and Sally – have allowed me to serve and in fact they have even encouraged me to serve, believe it or not, to pursue the passion that I’ve got for public service. And that is in spite of the very real sacrifice that it involves.

And again, I see a number of my former colleagues here and you know exactly what I am talking about. So although I am so honored to get this award, the award is really more fitting to my family who have allowed me to do this. It’s also really neat for me to be associated with an award that bears the name of Bryce Harlow. I did have the privilege, as Jim said, to get to know Bryce Harlow. Right after college, I was one of those many young people who he befriended and he gave me his advice willingly. He took time out to advise me on my future. By that time, he was already an elder statesman and I knew him by reputation.

The Proctor and Gamble Company which is, again, represented here tonight, had the privilege of having him represent them here in Washington for many years. Since Proctor was from my hometown, when I came to Washington they said that I had to meet this guy. So a mutual friend said that I ought to look him up, so I did and Bryce Harlow invited me to lunch at the Metropolitan Club. Now remember, I am first year out of college now. I got a haircut, I borrowed a tie from my roommate and I went to the very intimidating Metropolitan Club to meet with Bryce Harlow.

Of course, I was real excited about meeting him because I knew of his reputation. I remember he first introduced me around the room and Hugh Scott was there, a former minority leader and that really dates me. We sat down to talk and I said, “Mr. Harlow, tell me what it was like, your career on the Hill, your career in the White House, particularly the post-Watergate White House.” Bob Bennett was a friend of his back in those days, by the way, and has some great Bryce Harlow stories about those times. But he would have none of that. He did not want to talk about himself; he wanted to talk about me. Again, here I was, somebody trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and found this guy who was a great listener, an engaged listener; a very rare trait for those of us in the political world, yet one that we should all emulate. He was focused on helping me and over the next several months, he did. At that point in my life, I couldn’t decide whether I should stay in Washington and work in government or go to law school, so I was struggling with that decision.

I knew that I wanted to work in public service, but frankly, I just didn’t like the idea of three more years of school and the expense and so on. So letters and visits, including one to his beloved cottage at Harper’s Ferry, where some of you visited him, I got the chance to know him and he helped steer me. His most convincing argument about law school was a story that he told about himself in typical Harlow-esque modesty.

I remember to this day, it was a story about the Armed Service Committee, where he served as staff director. He said that one day at a hearing, an issue came up about a legislative matter and the chairman of the committee, Chairman Carl Vincent, turned to Bryce Harlow as the staff director and said, “Please give us your opinion about this legislative matter.” And he did; thought it was fine, and then suddenly he said he was cross-examined heavily by a member of the committee that disagreed with him and that disagreed with the chairman.

I don’t know this for a fact, but I believe that member of Congress was his nemesis at the time; a young Congressman from Texas named Lyndon Johnson. He said that things were going all right, but he was under pressure and then finally this member questioned him about his legal analysis of this legislative matter. And the member inquired, knowing full well what the answer was, “Mr. Harlow, are you a lawyer?” He wasn’t. He said that he never felt smaller and that he joked that that was saying a lot, given his small stature. Again, classic Harlow humor and humility.

Anyway, here was this icon in Washington public policy circles lamenting that he didn’t have a J.D. and therefore his credibility was not as great as it could have been. I listened to him and I applied to law school and I went that next fall. So for good or for bad, Tommy, I ended up at law school in part because of the man we are here to honor tonight. It’s a good thing that I got that law degree because now I spend a lot of my time at the Office of Management and Budget trying to convince members of Congress that in fact we are properly executing the laws that they passed.

Bryce Harlow would be disappointed at the number of times that I lose that argument, but it has come in handy now and again. Bryce Harlow was a humble man and his humility was one thing that we should honor. Another thing about Bryce Harlow that I loved is that he didn’t take himself too seriously. One of my favorite quotes from Bryce Harlow is, “Never confuse yourself with your job. It may be important, you are not.” Something for all of us in this town to be reminded of now and again.

Joel Jankowski wrote an essay about Bryce Harlow and he cites four other characteristics that he calls the Harlow tradition — exceptional work ethic, deep understanding of the processes of good government, the ability to adapt to change and finally above all, integrity. Now Harlow’s quote on integrity was, “Integrity is power; they are one in the same.” That Harlow tradition has a lot to teach all of us about how to carry out the solemn responsibilities that we have and everyone in this room has them. Whether we are elected officials or appointed or whether we are in the public sector or the private sector, we are all involved in making decisions that affect people’s lives, and people’s lives in the world’s greatest democracy. In my time in Congress, at USTR, at OMB — I can’t keep a job, as you can tell — I’ve had the good fortune of working with colleagues and dedicated staff who do understand that responsibility, the responsibility that comes with the privilege of representing fellow Americans. Again, a lot of those people are here tonight.

I still believe that public service is a noble calling. I am encouraged by what I see on the Hill and at the White House today among that next generation of public servants or potential public servants. Some are Bryce Harlow Fellows who were introduced earlier tonight and I congratulate you. I hope that your experience as fellows will instill in you an even greater enthusiasm for work in government, and a strong appreciation for the integrity that it demands.

I am grateful that Bryce Harlow took time to give me some guidance along the way and inspire me by his example nearly three decades ago. I am also very grateful for two other distinguished leaders who have given me some incredible opportunities to serve. Jim mentioned that it was my privilege to serve President Bush 41 and now to serve his son, President George W. Bush. I am proud to be part of this president’s team during what is, admittedly, a very challenging period in our nation’s history. So again, I thank you for the honor of this award carrying Bryce Harlow’s name. It inspires me to continue to try to be worthy of the great legacy that he leaves. Thank you all very much and Godspeed.

If that introduction had been presented two years from now, I would have said, “I accept your nomination.” My fellow lobbyists, ladies and gentlemen, after all I’m a registered, certified lobbyist of the state of Hawaii and I’m proud of it. And, seriously, if it weren’t for lobbyists, I don’t think our business on Capitol Hill could be carried out. So thank you all for helping us. Two years ago I was selected as Mr. Pork of the Year. Last year Ted Stevens got the award. This year he and I are vying for that position again.

And we’re not embarrassed because we’ve done our best. Bob Dole is very special to me. We were in the same hospital and I still recall that moment when we got a bit serious. We weren’t playing bridge (and it’s true, he was a lousy player). I looked at him and I said, “Bob, what are your plans? What do you plan to become or do after this?” He says, “Well,” without batting an eye, he said, “I’m going to be county attorney. After that I’ll serve in the state legislature and after that I’ll go to Congress.”

I looked at him and I said, “You know, that’s a good plan.” So I went to law school. I became assistant prosecutor, served in the territorial house and senate, and when statehood came along I traveled to Washington. Looked around, didn’t see Bob. I sent him a note. “Where are you, Bob?”

Please believe me, I made great plans to give a very serious speech this evening. In fact, I wrote it down. But then it occurred to me the last two days that since I’ve been here nearly 50 years ago, the climate has changed. Capitol Hill is a bit chilly now. It’s not as warm as it used to be when I was there in those early days. The rhetoric on the floor is getting a bit sharp and, I think, dangerous. And I’m sorry to say the decibels are getting louder. And so I decided to spend a few moments telling you why I’m proud to be here. Yes, I am bipartisan. I get along well with Ted Stevens and some of my colleagues can’t understand why. He’s my brother. I still remember what Lyndon Johnson told me when I first met him.

He says, “In Congress if you believe you’re right, stand up and say so and disagree, but never be disagreeable.” You know, those are good words. Disagree but don’t do it in a disagreeable manner. And I’ve tried to follow that and I find that it works. I was Mr. Pork two years ago in a Republic administration. [LAUGHTER/CLAPPING] Well, let me tell you why I’m proud to be an American and proud to be a member of the United States Senate. I was born in 1924 when the Congress of the United States enacted a law that closed the door to immigrants from Japan.

And they also did one other thing — made it impossible for immigrants to become citizens. My father was born in Japan. He came over as a child of three. And when he married a year before I was born, he found himself a year later unable to become a naturalized citizen. And my mother, who was born in Hawaii and therefore a citizen, found herself without citizenship because that was one of the conditions. If you marry an immigrant, you lose your citizenship.

Well, December 7th comes along and suddenly life changes. A few weeks later the Selective Service System passes a regulation and says that all Japanese are 4C. Now I think all of you know what 1A is and I think you know what 4F is. 4F, you’re physically unfit. 4C is the designation of an enemy alien. So I found myself becoming an enemy alien, which I resented. And so we petitioned the government and the president of the United States issued an executive order and said, “Americanism is a matter of mind and heart. It never was and never is a matter of skin or color.”

And he, President Roosevelt, said that “If you wish, you may volunteer to form a regimental combat team.” The quota for the territory of Hawaii was 1,800 men. Well, 10,000 volunteered. And so they selected 2,400 of us. By the time we finished our service and the war ended, about 14,000 had to go through this combat team. We started off with 4,500. But I’m happy to say that we ended the war as the most decorated unit of its size in the history of the Army.

And then statehood came along and I found myself in Washington. But in February of 1942 the president of the United States who declared that Americanism is a matter of mind and heart issued an executive order placing into camps (which incidentally was referred to in the order as concentration camps) all members of the Japanese community — citizens and otherwise. And when I learned that men from these camps volunteered, it made me proud and I also questioned myself, “Would I have volunteered if I were in one of those camps?”

You know, it takes something in a person’s spirit to volunteer to serve a country that imprisons you. But they did that and they served well. But what makes me very proud is that in the ’80s, the Congress of the United States, after a decent debate, passed a law which said we acknowledge the wrong we committed and we apologized and provided redress payments. The payment, as far as I’m concerned, wasn’t that important. But just imagine, has any other country, a superpower ever acknowledged doing anything wrong and apologize?

Think about it. This is the only country, the only major power that has had the guts. We did it. That’s why I’m proud. Well, I thank you for this honor. I shall accept it in the name of my partner. Thank you.

Well, if you think that’s all true, let me tell you the rest of the story. You know, Saxby said we are good friends, and, in this town, as Harry Truman used to say – for my staff who call me Chairman Weepy – let me get caught up a little bit here. Harry Truman used to say, “If you’re in Washington and you want to have a friend – get a dog.” Well, let me just tell you something: Harry Truman was wrong. I’ve been blessed to have a lot of friends amongst my colleagues: Saxby and Richard Burr (ph.) and Tom Latham, the four of us are somewhat inseparable. Mike Oxley’s here – kind of my big brother. Of course, I try to avoid… he’s (unint.) all the things not to do.

But as Saxby said, in this town, having the relationships and having friends – a support system – it’s critically important; and, obviously, many of you in this room play a role in that support system as well. I want to thank the Foundation – Connie, thank you for your leadership, Linda, all the work that you do, Cal Dooley, my old free enterprise/free market friend on the Ag Committee. We had a tag team for 14 years. In the summer of 1991, he and I stumbled into each other fighting something that the dairy industry wanted to do – that was about as anti-free market as they come. And over the 14 years that we spent – over 14 years ago – the 14 years we spent together on the Ag Committee, we were the two free market voices, Cal and I, and many times we would just walk in the room and the other 46 members would look over and go, “Oh my God, they’re back again.” It’s good to have a lot of great success, but I can tell you one thing: we kept them from doing anything worse than what they had already done.

Let me say, Red, it’s a privilege to be here with you. We’ve been friends for a long time, we’ve worked together on a lot of issues over the years; and when I look around this town, there’s probably – probably – there’s no one more deserving of this award than you – congratulations. And to the Vice President, I can’t tell you how honored I am to be up here on the stage and having you sit in the audience. It really is a privilege for you to be here.

Let me tell you a story: Back in the Summer of 2000 when it became clear that… when it was public that Dick Cheney was going to do the Vice Presidential search for the President, my former Chief of Staff – now works for Carl Rove at the White House, Barry Jackson and I – were sitting around the office one day and looking at each other and we had this conversation about who the next Vice President was going to be. And he and I looked at each other and both said immediately: “Well, it’s pretty clear what’s going to happen: Dick Cheney’s going to be the next Vice President.” And when it happened, we had a glass of wine over it, of course – I probably smoked a cigarette – but, I’ve got to tell you, the President’s made a lot of courageous decisions, he’s been a great leader for our country and for the world; but you only have to look at really one decision as to how good the President really is and that’s when he chose Dick Cheney to be his sidekick. (Applause)

Saxby introduced Debbie and the girls – this is a big moment. I don’t think the three of them have been here together in a long time. And while Debbie gets to town once in a while, the girls are growing up – they don’t get here very often. And it’s not very often that the girls have to put on makeup and really get dressed up; so I can’t tell you how happy I am that they’re here. As you all know, there’s a lot of things that go into being who we are and having a support structure in place in a family that supports you and they’ve been supporting me for a long, long time – thank you very much. (Applause). Now, I’m sitting around the last couple days trying to figure out: what is it that I’m going to talk about? And then you begin to wonder: you know, why am I getting this award? You know, I’m another member, I’m another person who happens to be here, and, yes, I happen to get along with people. And I started to think about what I guess a lot of people think about in a moment like that or maybe at an age like this: when they begin to wonder, you know, why am I who I am?

You know, we all are who we are. Some of us have more assets, no liabilities. Some others, who unfortunately have more liabilities than assets. But I started thinking about growing up in a family where I had eight brothers and three sisters; and you learn a few things growing up in a big family – how to get along with each other. You learn that you’ve got to pitch in and help out around the house. And as the second oldest of this band of 12, you also learned a few leadership skills – how to change diapers, how to baby-sit and how to organize the younger ones. Now if my brothers and sisters were here, you’d hear a lot of stories. And I was thinking about my mother who’s now gone, but my mother would… you know, there were 12 of us – 20 years, one at a time – and never got rattled over anything. I don’t know how she had enough money to pay the bills, because she didn’t; but it never seemed to bother her. And you wondered… sometimes I wonder why I don’t get too excited, too nervous about things and I take things as they come. I think I must’ve gotten it from my mother.

But I think that a lot of you know that my dad owned a bar and growing up around a bar is another great experience because you learn to deal with whoever walks in the door; or, as I like to say, you just never know which jackass is going to walk in that you’re going to deal with – but you do meet a lot of interesting people. And I used to watch my dad around the bar and learned probably more lessons in life than I learned from anyone. Because I don’t care who you were that walked in – you could be black or white, rich or poor, CEO to a laborer – and they all got treated the same – friendly, happy, liked what he did – and treated everybody the same way.

And it was a lesson that, you know, some 25/30 years later I began to realize that I probably learned this from my dad. But you think about growing up in a large family, thinking about growing up around a bar – great training for what we do every day – great training. During those times, you know, I played sports. I played on a lot of sports teams: football, basketball, baseball. You learn that you’ve got to work as a team because the team is like a chain – it’s only as strong as its weakest link. And then I was in my… the years I spent in my business.

I’ll never forget an older fellow named Bob Merlin – a neighbor of mine, good friend, finally a customer who’s now gone – would sit me down early in my business career and said, “Listen, Boehner, you want to do pretty good – just learn to lay all of your cards on the table and try to get the person across from you to lay all their cards on the table.” Something that I did in my business career – it seemed to work, made some money.

And certainly when I got into the political arena, I really do believe that being forthright with people, laying your cards on the table is the best way to cut to the chase, get to a decision and to be honest with people – keeping commitments. As a friend of mine used to say, “Never make empty promises.” You know like, “Eh, we have to get together some time and have lunch.” No, we’re going to have lunch or we’re not going to have lunch. When are we going to do it? But keeping your word, whether you’re in business or whether you’re in our business, it’s something that goes a long way. Bryce Harlow, who I never met, would say: “When it’s all said and done, your word is really all that you have, and your integrity is worth more than anything else in your career.”

I got into politics by accident – got involved with my neighborhood home owners association – and I ended up in the United States Congress. This, too, could happen to you. I learned that I should… that, we, in our business, should take our work seriously but not take ourselves too seriously. There are more egos in this town than you can ever imagine – you’ve all dealt with them, we might even have a few here. But we do serious work and we ought to take it seriously, but when it’s all said and done we’re just mere mortals here doing God’s work.

You know, along the way you learn a few other lessons, you know, that everything in life is a two-way street; and when you think it’s a one-way street and you’re heading in the right direction, just remember, you’re heading toward a dead-end. And so treating people right, trying to be fair with people is just a little bit of who I am and who many of us in this room are. My staff will tell you there’s all kinds of Boehnerisms. One of the famous ones is: you catch more bees with honey than you do vinegar. There’s nothing wrong with being nice to people – treating people decently.

And I was thinking about this a couple of days ago and I kept thinking about my buddy over here, Bob Michael. Now, I gave Bob Michael every reason in the world to never ever talk to me again. He was the Republican Leader back in 1991, and 2 and 3 and 4 and I was this rowdy freshman, sophomore, and bomb-thrower. And Bob Michael, in spite of all of this, I’d go talk to him about what I was doing and he’d kind of shake his head and wonder what I was up to.

And I’ll never forget one night outside the Capitol Hill Club, we were about to drop a big bomb the next day and I saw Bob Michael getting out of the car and I said, “Bob, listen, they only want to disclose a few names of these people at the House bank… I gotta be forthright with you – that’s just not going to pass the straight-face test. And Santorum and I and the rest of the gang – Nussle – we’re going to push to disclose all the names. And, sorry, but we gotta do what we gotta do.” And Bob Michael looked at me, could’ve cut my legs off, could’ve done a lot of things, but Bob Michael looked at me and said, “Well, I’m the Republican Leader and I have to represent all of the Republicans in the House and I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do.” Never tried to stop me, never tried to thwart us.

And when it comes… you know, when you say the word “decency”, Bob Michael is someone who comes to mind rather quickly – and, Bob, I’m glad that you’re here. (Applause) You know, there’s another person that reminds me of that word as well and that’s George Koch. I met George Koch the weekend after I was elected. Oxley called me right before I was elected in 1990 and says, “Listen, I can’t go to this Congressional Charity Golf Event at the Greenbrier the weekend after the election,” he said, “I’m going to Europe.” He said, “Can you take my place?” I said, “Yeah.” He said, “Well, I can’t invite you until you’re elected, so I’ll call you on Wednesday.” So George Koch – gotta play by the rules – George Koch calls and invites me down to the Greenbrier. My wife and I had never been to the Greenbrier – wanted to go so we got to the Greenbrier.

And it’s the first evening and I’m having a cocktail with George Koch and he’s telling me he grew up in Cincinnati and he had been in Washington for 30-some years. And he said, “You know, I went to All Saints Episcopal High School – you know, when it was in downtown Cincinnati.” And I looked at George and I said, “George, what year did you graduate?” He said, “I graduated in 1944.”

And I looked at George Koch and I said, “George, do you remember a guy named Earl Boehner?” And George’s eyes got about this big and when we realized that my dad and George Koch went to high school together in downtown Cincinnati. Unfortunately, my dad died about three weeks later; and, so, for the last 14 years, George Koch has been kind of my surrogate father here in Washington. George, you’re a great American. (Applause.)

When it was all said and done, you know, I’m lucky. I’m a lucky guy – I’m lucky to be here, I’m lucky to have the skills that God gave me. I’m lucky to have a great family, I’m lucky to have a lot of close friends, I’m lucky to have colleagues that I work with and trust and like from the bottom of my soul; and I’m lucky to have a lot of people in this room – all of you have been very supportive of me during the time that I’ve been here. I really don’t feel like I deserve this honor, I just feel like I’m being honored for just who I happen to be. But I’m lucky because I do have a great relationship with many of you in this room.

And so I was thinking about this the other day, and I thought to myself the Bible quote that said, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” I do believe that I’m lucky; I do believe that I’ve been fortunate. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I’d ever be in public service or be on this stage tonight, but looking back over my career, I made the right decision – kind of made to do what I’m doing. And we’re all put on this earth to do more than what we think we’re put on this earth to do – we’re here to help. I’ve been fortunate to spend the last 20 years in public service, something that I’ve learned to love more than I ever thought that I would. As Saxby said, I got involved in No Child Left Behind because it was the President’s initiative. And I’ve dealt with thousands and thousands of issues during my legislative career over 20 years; but no issue – no issue – has ever touched my soul like helping every child in America have a chance at a decent education. Ted Kennedy and I do a dinner every year for 13 really poor Catholic schools here in Washington. It’s not because Ted and I love each other that much, but we do like each other – but it’s about helping kids in this city have a chance.

If you read this morning’s Washington Post editorial, you saw just another example of how pathetic the schools are in this town. And I don’t know what I’m going to do over the coming months about blowing up the D.C. school system, but I’m going to tell you one thing: we who succeed in this town and we who make a living in this town, owe these kids in this town – I’ll get there – we owe these kids in this town an education and they’re not getting it. And I’m here to say: we can’t keep looking the other way while children’s futures are being ruined day after day, being in these schools. And it’s not just here, it’s elsewhere, but we work here and we make our living here and I think that all of us in this room owe the kids in this town a chance. Thank you for the chance to be here, thank you for the wonderful honor – I love you all.

(Applause)

Well, thank you all very much. And thank you, John. It is an honor to receive this award, and it is especially gratifying to receive it from John Breaux, who is somebody I have respected for so long. And part of it is because I think John’s style kind of appeals to my farm-boy sensibilities because I learned a long time ago that there are a lot of different ways to fix a tractor that is broken. But unless you make a decision on how to fix it, you are not going to get anything done. And I look at John as being one of the chief mechanics in Congress who has just done so much to get so many things done, and we should honor him because we are going to miss him.

I’m also pleased to be here tonight to ride on the coattails of George Koch, who is my good friend and somebody over the last fourteen years I have just learned to respect so much. He is such a gentleman, he is such a person of principle, and he clearly embodies the values and the ideals of Bryce Harlow, and it is an honor to be with you. And it’s an honor also to be receiving the award with Senator Don Nickles, obviously a terrific statesman. The one thing I respect about Don is we don’t agree maybe on every issue, but he has exhibited, I think, almost a rare quality that is not often found in Congress, over his twenty-four years of public service — his intellectual consistency — and we all should respect that quality.

You know I clearly had an advantage over George and Don in receiving this award because I had an advocate on the inside, and many of you had the chance to hear her tonight, but I’ve almost convinced myself that I received this award not because of Linda’s service as the Executive Director of the Bryce Harlow Foundation, but I am absolutely confident that I am receiving this award because I am positioned so, because of all the terrific support that Linda has provided for me over the last twenty-five years. And in fact, next week, we celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.

I was born and raised working on a farm prior to running for Congress. And I had a lot of people ask me, “Why did you decide to run?” And I tell them that if you have ever been on a D7 Caterpillar tractor in the Central Valley of California in the middle of August when it is 105 and dusty, you know that there is something better in life. And I tell you that over the past fifteen years in Congress, I have seldom wanted to go back to sit on that tractor, but there have been occasions… And one of those occasions was the time when the Democratic Caucus actually spent a considerable amount of time chastising me for having the audacity to shake the hand of Bill Thomas after we had won a trade vote by one vote.

I actually had a defense. I said, I always stick my hand out when I see Bill Thomas approaching me because I don’t know if he is going to want to shake it or if I’m going to need it there for self-defense. Not to be disrespectful to Bill; He’s a great friend and we share neighboring districts. And he has provided a tremendous contribution to Congress, and I really respect the work he’s done.

I’ve had the opportunity of being raised on a farm, and I grew up around a lot of Republicans. I don’t know how many of you know this, but most of the farmers in California, including my family, tend to be Republicans, including my family, and you know, I got used to it. Not that I liked it. But in my first race for Congress I had particularly tough time trying to convince this one uncle to vote for me, who was a Republican. And after repeated attempts to convince him he said to me, “Cal, I’ve only voted for one Democrat in my life, and that was when I was on a jury and I voted to hang him.”

Now, there are some of you out there who think that is a fate too good for some of us. I obviously entered Congress with an objective of trying to minimize the number of people who wanted to hang us, including my uncle. I am pleased with my work with Senator Breaux, Congresswoman Tauscher, Congressman Moran, and Congressman Smith and Kind and Pomeroy and others that have attended here. We really tried to work and establish in the New Democrat Network, to really demonstrate that Democrats could provide leadership that could allow the United States’ economy to maximize its economic opportunities domestically as well as internationally. And at the same time, maintaining our true commitment to empowering the maximum number of our citizens to be full participants in this new economy. We are convinced that our agenda allows Democrats not only to respond to our base, but also to expand it.

I had the opportunity to read the book, Bryce Harlow: Mr. Integrity. I didn’t have the benefit that George Koch did of working and knowing Bryce, but it was an interesting opportunity for me to really get a better understanding. I was really pleased to read a passage where he was engaged in efforts that I kind of think in some ways similarly would unite the Republican Party, as some of us try to do, with the Democratic Party. During President Ford’s administration, when he was faced with selecting a new vice president, Ford turned to Harlow for counsel. And it was Harlow, at the time, that recommended Ford select Nelson Rockefeller as his vice president, and he did so, and I quote Harlow’s comments, “It would encourage estranged groups to return to the party and would signal that a new president will not be captive of any political faction.”

I like that part of not being captive to any political faction because I can relate to it, obviously. And I like to think that some of the work we’ve done, and the New Democrat Network, has been really focused on that effort. And I don’t know, Senator Breaux, as we are leaving here, we might want to think about expanding the definition of new Democrats beyond centrist, pro-growth, pro-trade, but also Democratic liberators? Some of us who are part of the DLC can now see Al From assuming the role as Chief Liberator of the Democratic Party.

The greatest thing about my role with the new Democrat Coalition is that it allowed me to get involved in a broad and diverse set of issues. And it’s not that I wasn’t enthralled with the issues that were in the jurisdiction of agriculture. But with John Boehner and I being the bipartisan coalition of two on the Agriculture Committee, arguing for reform of our farm policy against the other fifty members of the Committee, I was looking for new fields to plow. So I conveniently discarded and ignored the memo from the leadership that was talking about deferring to the senior members of various committees and respecting their jurisdiction, and sought to become constructively engaged in a variety of issues, including trade, technology, court reform, financial services, and health care. We adopted a motto in our office, “Strive to be relevant.” Fortunately over my fourteen years 14 years in Congress, I’ve had the opportunity to be relevant and make a difference.

But I was only able to do so, in large part, because I had some of the most competent people on the Hill working on my staff. And I won’t name them all, but two of them joined me in my first month in Congress. And many of you know and have worked with Lisa Quigley, who is my Chief of Staff and is my great friend. And many of you also have known and worked and have grown to admire and worship, as I do, Lori Denham, my legislative director who is here tonight. Lori has a distinction of also being a Bryce Harlow fellow, so it is an investment that I can well attest that paid off. I also have another former staff member who has a Harlow connection, and Michele Bright has joined Bryce’s son Larry Harlow’s firm, and is doing great work there.

But I was only able to get involved in so many challenging issues, in large part because of the partnership I have established with so many of you in the room. I have consistently told my constituents that my work on their behalf was enhanced by the contributions of lobbyists. I didn’t have the staff and the resources to gain the information I needed to make the best decisions on every issue. And the wonderful thing about people who are involved in advocacy is that we have people on every side of every issue that are there to provide information to me and my colleagues on the complexity of a policy. It is the gathering of that information that allows us, in its totality, to make the best-informed decision that is going to be in the best interest of our country as well as our constituency.

Charles Darwin said, “It is not the most intelligent species that survive, but the ones most responsive to change.” Darwin’s statement is true not only for species, but also for businesses and politicians, and defines a principle, which we should all embrace. We are in an era of incredible change. It is clear that the dominant economic model we face is globalization, which is driven by the forces of speed. Whether it be the speed of communication, the speed of innovation, or the speed of commerce, we must accept that our national borders are becoming increasingly porous to the flows of information, the flows of capital, and the flows of commerce. We must understand that we no longer have the luxury of instituting domestic policies that are immune or inconsistent with these global forces. We are all challenged, those of us in elected office as well as those of you who have been hired by a constituency to provide leadership that is focused on embracing the opportunities of the future and not responding to the challenges of the past.

Most often, when those of us in Congress and those of you who are lobbyists become agents of the ‘status quo’ or of the policies of the past, we are doing a disservice to the broader interest of our country. You cannot isolate our citizens or our economy from global competition or its challenges without denying our citizens access to the opportunities the world provides. And clearly, denying our citizens access to global opportunities will lead to the stagnation of our economy and the steady erosion of the quality of life that we take for granted.

I’ve had many great opportunities as a member of Congress. I will close with one that was most memorable. I think the best remaining perk in Congress is our gym that we have in the Rayburn building. I try to use it regularly. But in my first term in office, I was heading down to the gym, when I knew something was up because there were two imposing Secret Service officers who were standing at the door. And I obviously knew they weren’t concerned about my welfare, or the welfare of my colleagues. And sure enough, when I went in, there was President Bush — Bush 41 — who was playing paddleball with his good friend, Sonny Montgomery. I have to tell you, I took great pleasure in watching the President play paddleball, and he was a great player, and he was also in great shape. But I did my workout and I finished it up, and I showered. As I stepped out of the shower, I turned around and here I was standing buck-naked with the President of the United States. And I thought, boy, you’ve come along way from spending most of your time driving tractor to standing naked with the President. And I will tell you, that all in all, he is pretty much a regular kind of guy. No disrespect, Doro, whatsoever here….

In closing, I just want to thank my constituents as well as many of you for having the opportunity to have served in Congress. It’s been the most memorable and rewarding experience. I thank you for this honor, I thank you for your support in the past, and I thank many of you who are truly my friends. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you. John Breaux, thank you very much for those very nice comments. I can’t help but reminisce. John was mentioning the fact that we spent a little time in the Congress trying to write the Medicare bill, the prescription drug bill. And it went on for weeks and hours and hours and hours. Chairman Thomas kept putting pistachios in front of us, and we gained about six pounds. And one night after going for hours and hours, I slipped, (I call him, J.B.), I slipped him a note, and I said, “Hey, do you want to do this for another seven years?” We are both trying to make a decision. He hands me the note back, and he says, “How about seven minutes?”

I kind of knew what we were going to do. So anyways, it is a pleasure to be introduced by such a good friend and partner, I mean colleague, as John Breaux. I am honored. I am a little shocked. I don’t know where those pictures came from, but I would never vote for somebody that young for the U.S. Senate. I haven’t seen those … wow, that guy had a lot of hair, and he looked awfully young.

Anyway, I am honored to be here. I have a rule that we are done by nine o’clock anywhere I go, and I think we trespassed on that. But let me just say a couple comments. One, I am honored to be named for Bryce Harlow, an Oklahoman and a person that those of us who follow politics, have great respect for; an Oklahoman who was a very trusted advisor to several presidents and had enormous power but also enormous humility. As mentioned by his very good friend George Koch — and you did a fantastic job, George, in your letting us all know Bryce better — he was always known as Mr. Integrity. Mr. Integrity, a man of his word and a man for whom several presidents valued his word and his advice and his council. He did an outstanding job not just for our state, but frankly for our country for decades. And that’s quite a compliment. So to be named after that is very positive.

It’s also a real positive thing to see so many people who were Bryce Harlow Fellows. It’s exciting to think that hundreds of people. So Linda Dooley, I want to compliment you for doing a fantastic job. Hundreds of people; to think that hundreds of people all across the country are going to have the opportunity to be acquainted with Washington, DC, maybe as an intern, on a fellowship to be associated to work in a Congressman’s office, a Senator’s office, maybe to work in a Washington Rep, a government office to have a little taste of what it is like. And maybe to develop a desire to learn more and to expand and to grow. And maybe, well, this is something I want to do. I want to consider and to develop further. These are people who can be future leaders, future Congressmen, Senators, judges, and administration personnel. That’s exciting. And it’s training new good leaders for the future, so that’s exciting. And to be affiliated, again, with the person of such great integrity and respect as Bryce Harlow is a real treat.

Let me just make a couple comments. One, I want to acknowledge as Cal did, his better half, Linda. I want to acknowledge my better half, Linda, my partner for the last 36 years. I said 36 years, she said 35, but she thought it was 70.

Also, I’d remiss if I didn’t recognize many of my staff members. I’ve been so fortunate over the last 24 years, I’ve had a lot of wonderful people, and I’ve been associated with a lot of outstanding staff who also happen to be very good personal friends, if they would stand up just for a second, we should recognize some of them. Former staff members as well, please.

And let me just conclude by saying, thank you, John Breaux and Cal Dooley. It’s a pleasure to be with you. I hate to see you retire. Don’t leave. We need free trade Democrats. We do. We absolutely do. And George Koch, I want to compliment you. I’ve known you from day one. It’s great to have people, our government representatives that represent your side of the aisle or your influence, your participation in the system, in a way that you are very proud of.

I’ve known George more because he raises money for outstanding charities, probably over the last few years, than any lobbying. Frankly, he has been so helpful, not only George, but his entire family, in helping good charities raise a lot of money to help a lot of people who have serious health problems.

And many people in this room do so much for so many people. So I just want to say thank you. It’s a pleasure. It’s been an honor to be in the United States Senate for the last 24 years to represent a great state, to get to go to the Final Four this weekend, and a real honor to participate in the United States Senate. I absolutely love Congress. I love the Senate. It was a difficult decision for me to decide to step down. I’ve been doing it for a long time. And it’s an honor to be a representative and a part of really the greatest democracy in the history of the world, to have countries all around the world looking at the United States. We epitomize what they want to be because we show that we can work together. We show that a democracy can work. We expound and express and expand freedom, personal freedom, economic freedom, religious freedom, political freedom all across the world. They look to the United States. We can be proud of that. Let’s continue to do our job, and have fun while we are doing it. Thank you very much. God bless.

Thank you, Emmett (Hines). Mr. Vice President. Bryce. Honored guests. Good Friends. Ladies and gentlemen. I am both honored and humbled by this award.

There are a number of people in this audience more worthy than I to be standing at this podium. I think it would be most appropriate if, at this moment, I were replaced by the man whose name graces this beautiful trophy, my friend of years, Bryce Harlow.

Few men have given as unstintingly as Bryce Harlow, for so long a time, of their talents and knowledge, of their abilities and dedication, in the service of business and government, and executive. He has been and still is a member of numerous committees, associations and organizations whose purpose it is to smooth that often abrasive interface where business and government meet.

Bryce believes, as I do, that private enterprise and representative government are two of the pillars that undergird this nation. They augment each other. They share a great load. They sometimes clash, but never relinquish the weight of their responsibilities.

I have reached that time in my life when I am sometimes called elder statesman… or something worse. But I thank God that I have had opportunity to express my belief that business and government are partners. Those partners — being people — are not perfect. But more important is the fact that they continue to reach for an ever more productive and meaningful relationship. That striving to reach the greater goal is what differentiates our nation from every other on this globe.

Our world is changing. A world economy is evolving. More now than ever, governments must be reminded they are servant, not master, to people. Governments must be reminded that their primary function is to do for their people what their people cannon do for themselves.

And business must be reminded that its inherent self interest is to provide the mechanism for goods and services, to provide jobs, to provide profits, to fulfill its rightful role as an integral member of the society in which it operates… and, of course, to be a good corporate citizen.

Bryce and I are still committed to the task we’ve been working at these many years… to building new relationships… to carrying on the dialogue… to reminding each other that the job will never be finished.

But we both take strength from the fact that we are not alone.

There are strong voices in the Roundtable and on the hill and in many other organizations dedicated to greater business and government understanding and cooperation. We are proof that voices crying in the wilderness are not necessarily lost in the wind.

So carry on. Speak loud and often and with conviction. Our world, our country and every human being therein will be better for the effort. Thank you again for this marvelous award. I will cherish it.