Well, that Amy Klobuchar is really something, isn’t she? I never thought for a minute that she would give a speech like that about me. You know, Connie, congratulations. Connie has scared me for years. This has been a very emotional thing for me, to see my Speaker of the House get up here and not break down in tears, but almost, and give one of the funniest talks that I’ve heard in a long time.
I have to say, Juanita, you’re something, you always have been something. You’re great and I’ve always loved you as a person, there’s no question about that. I love Amy as a person, she’s a really good addition to the Senate. She’s very bright, she’s a great attorney, she’s really something, I’m not kidding. And we all care a great deal for her. Teddy Kennedy and I, we were called the odd couple. And we really did get along very well.
We’d fight each other very, very hard, I mean, really, and get kind of nasty. I would be, on my side, being the usual, you know, very quiet, calm, easy going guy, and Teddy would be over there screaming and shouting and I’m ready to punch him right in the mouth, and then he’d walk over to me after the debate was over and he’d say, how’d I do? How do you get mad at a man like that, you know?
I’ve enjoyed my Democratic colleagues through the years, some of whom are very, very dear friends. I’ll never forget, I was once asked to give the remarks at the United Presbyterian College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. I was invited up to talk about my faith. And the president of the school, a Presbyterian minister got up and he told this story. He said this fellow died and he went up to heaven and he said where do I go from here?
And St. Peter said, well, you’re a borderline case, he says, you have your choice, you can either go to heaven or down below. Of course, we know what you’re going to choose. And he said, well, he said don’t be so sure. He said how about telling me the differences between the two. And Peter said, well, okay. He said, heaven, that’s a land of smooth flowing brooklets and streams and green forests and green pastureland, good companionship and everything.
He said all of the other places, one old, dry, dark, dusty desert. And the man said, well, you know, I kind of like the heat. And Peter thought, well, okay, I’ll string along with the gag. So on the way down to the gates of hell, Peter explained the differences again and the fellow relentlessly wanted to go to hell. So finally they get down to the gate and Peter said, look, fellow, he said the joke has gone far enough.
He said heaven, that’s a land of smooth flowing brooklets and streams, and green forests and green pastureland, and good companionship and everything. He said all this is one old hot mass dry desert. And the man said, well, that’s good enough for me, I like the heat. And Peter said, okay, buster, you’ve had your choice and he opens up the gate and there were smooth babbling brooklets and streams, and green forests and green pastureland, and Peter said, oh, those damn Mormons, they’ve been irrigating again.
Well, I want to thank you all so much and I particularly want to thank Amy for that kind introduction. She means a lot to me, she’s a very solid, dependable, decent, honorable Democrat. And I care for her a great deal, I’ll tell you. Obviously, I want to thank her for her kind words, and the others here this evening who have been so kind to me.
Linda Dooley, Juanita Duggan, my gosh, she’s scared me for years. But she’s a great, great lobbyist. The board of governors have been great to me, too, and I want to congratulate, especially Connie — Connie and her husband used to come visit me regularly and they were always decent and honorable, just like all the other lobbyists who’d come to see me. I’ve appreciated many of you in this room from time to time.
I feel like I’m going to cover a lot of ground this evening, so to begin I want to pause for a moment to give all of you a chance to decide which clients you’re going to bill for this hour. Seriously, seriously, I’ll wait. And now that’s out of the way, I just want to say how nice it feels to be invited to what some have affectionately referred to, as they said here tonight, the lobbyist prom, particularly at my age.
When some of you saw the announcement that I was going to be honored here this evening, your first reaction was probably something along the lines of, wait a second, is Orrin hatch still alive? To answer that question, yes. Clinically speaking I am. I’m kidding, of course, you all are paid good money to know who’s alive and who’s is dead in Congress. Come to me and I’ll whisper to you and tell you.
Even on a difficult case like mine, the, I’m confident you all reached the right conclusion. Now, while I’m honored to be here tonight, I have to say that I’m taking a minor risk attending this event. After all, lobbyists are among the four groups of people who have, I might say, lower approval ratings than Congress. I don’t think that’s fair to you. However, as I pay my staff to tell me, I’m nothing if not a stalwart example of political courage.
I wouldn’t miss this opportunity for the world. Well, I am glad to be here and have a few moments to share with you about the lobbying profession and the importance of good relations between business and government. And while we all like to joke about the supposed poor reputation of lobbyists, make no mistake, lobbying is an honorable profession. More than that, it is vital, and it’s necessary.
To be sure, the bad conduct of a tiny minority of lobbyists has, in the eyes of some, maligned the whole profession. But they’re the rare exception. However, anyone who shares that view had simply misunderstood what lobbyists do in our government and in the role they play in the development and advancement of policy up on Capitol Hill and throughout the country.
Indeed, instances in which the lobbyists have provided necessary information and communication, and there are many such instances, are not usually covered by the press. Yet, for those of us here in Washington who work to make policy on a day to day basis, and that’s what the lobbying profession is most known for. Lobbying is an integral part of the nation’s constitutional order.
A lot of people don’t know that. But you’re a great part of the constitutional order. According to most historians, the specific term, quote, lobbyist, unquote, has its roots in the 19th century, referring to those who waited in the lobby of the Willard Hotel to meet with President Ulysses S. Grant and members of Congress. Now despite what some of you may think, I was not serving in the Senate at that time.
However, my mind is not always there, so I might have been, you know, you never know. Despite what some of you may think — let me just say, however, while that may be very well be the origin of the terminology, lobbying as a practice goes even farther back in our country’s history. The denial of the right to petition the British government to change the very essence of lobbying was one of the grievances outlined by the Declaration of Independence.
And the same right is enshrined in the first amendment, right next to the freedoms of speech, press, association, and, of course, religion. So anyone who claims that our founding fathers would not approve of modern day lobbyists needs to take a closer look at what the founders actually said on the matter. Indeed, lobbying was in their view so essential that it was one of the first entries in the Bill of Rights. It’s easy to see why.
Lobbying is essential for good government. We live in a world that is, particularly with regard to matters of public policy, increasingly complex. In order to reach the right conclusions it is essential that policy makers have access to the latest and the best information. And that is precisely what lobbyists provide, if they’re good lobbyists, and you are.
True enough, the information we’re presented with in Congress is often contradictory, but it is our job to sift through all that and determine what policies are the best and lobbyists are essential to that process. And I’ve found that to be the case over the 38 years I’ve been in the United States Congress. In addition to providing information, lobbyists help build consensus.
I remember the Labor Law Reform battle back then, in 1977 and ’78. I had a lot of lobbyists work with me on that. Had we lost that, I don’t think we’d have our country the way it is today — as bad as it is from time to time. I’ll give you an example. Senator Klobuchar is here tonight, she’s my partner in the effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s medical device tax.
I’ve never seen a stupider, dumb-ass tax than that, I’ll tell you. It is really — a tax on gross income; give me break. We’ve been working on this issue for a while now, and over the last year or so we’ve built a bipartisan coalition, most notably in the Senate, in favor of this effort. Last year 79 senators voted to repeal this tax. And I think it’s only a matter of time until we get this done. We’ve worked hard to bring our colleagues along.
However, none of the success we’ve enjoyed thus far would be possible without the work of the medical device lobbyists or the medical device industry and its lobbyists. There’s nothing sneaky or under handed about what they’ve done. They simply provided members of Congress with information about the importance of the medical device industry and harmful nature of this tax.
Their work has been indispensable so far and we’re going to eventually get this repeal over the finish line. Another reason lobbyists are essential to good government is that they provide a necessary check on the power of politicians. Indeed, by giving people and businesses a voice in the policy making process, lobbyists help keep members of Congress in line. And that’s pretty important in my eyes.
This is why the work of the Bryce Harlow Foundation is so important. By promoting ethics in lobbying and positive relationships with policy makers, the Foundation helps to promote not only good policy but the public trust — the public’s trust in our institutions. Something that has been lacking in recent years. In the end this obviously helps lobbyists and members of Congress do their work.
But I think the American people are the ultimate beneficiaries. The Foundation truly exemplifies the legacy of Bryce Harlow, who I knew and who I admired, and who took his time with me to help me to understand a little bit about this, having never been elected to anything before I became a U.S. senator. He embodied the best of both worlds. Not only was he a devoted public servant, he was by all accounts an effective and trustworthy advocate in the private sector.
Indeed, he represented the best of what goes on in our nation’s capital and so does this foundation that bears his name. Since I came to Washington I’ve sought to work directly with the business community to advance policies that will benefit our country. It has been my practice to get advice from all sides of any issue, to hear from every stakeholder before deciding what path I should follow.
I’ve used this approach in dealing with many different issues. I’ve already mentioned the medical device tax as an example. I’ve done the same as I’ve worked on issues like labor, taxes, health care, technology and immigration, just to mention a few. This approach has allowed me to work with the best possible information and it has made the business community a partner in the policy making effort which is, in my view, critical.
There are different types of people that are drawn to Washington. Some people come here to try to be something great. Others come here to try to do something great. Far more often than not those that fall in the latter category, whether they are politicians or lobbyists, are the ones that ultimately end up doing the most good.
Our nation faces a number of difficult challenges including a sluggish economy, an astronomical debt, and a pending entitlement crisis. If we’re going to address these and other issues we must restore the trust between government and business, and we must work together on politics — or policies — that will achieve these goals. We can do great things together if we focus on the tasks ahead.
I believe we will. To get there we’re going to need the work of the Bryce Harlow Foundation to support honorable lobbying and effective public policy. And we’re going to need to find a way to bring everybody together and this will be a huge challenge, but I’m always an optimist, I think it can be done. I’m grateful for this honor.