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.