the u.s. capital historical society hosted a tribute to the senate finance committee. present and past members discuss the committee's purpose and work since it was formally created in 1816. each year the u.s. capital historical society honors the history and accomplishments of congressional committees.

>> my name is jane campbell. i am fortunate to be the president and ceo of the united states capital historical society. i just took this job in february. this is my new adventure. this organization has been around for more than 50 years. and we are delighted to have you join us for a celebration of the distinguished history of the senate finance committee. we begin the program tonight with the presentation of colors by the united states capital police ceremonial unit and the pledge of allegiance. please rise.

>> please join in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

>> right shoulder. forward march. >> thank you. very much. you may be seated. our celebration this evening is possible because we have generous support from the bank of america. from grant thornton, allergan , the national retail federation, the association of global automakers, united technology,

and the ongoing support of our society members. we have several of our board members who are here. i would invite you to stand up , board members of the u.s. capital historical society. thank you very much for your work. [ applause ] we are here today to raise a toast to the senate finance committee. the finance committee is over 200 years old. tracing its founding to a select committee that was committed and created in 1815. in its first assignment, it was charged to reduce the enormous data from the war of 1812. and it has been coping with debt limits ever since. that committee portfolio is

large it now. but in the 1800s its jurisdiction was limited to financial issues. tariffs, appropriations, the national debt, currency, and banking legislation. in those days, the finance committee raise the money and decided how to spend it. protectionist tariffs versus free-trade. a national bank versus a state bank. the gold standard , the silver standard, creation of paper money. income tax, critical issues of each e.r.a. of our nation's history were debated by this committee, with a strongly held and often opposing views. one would say that the issues before the committee have come full circle as a terrorist are once again a topic of national debate. the committee also shape the social programs.

enacting measures day veterans, to provide income and healthcare for seniors, and those with special needs. and to look after the welfare of children. as issues became more complex, the committee's authority became more focused. much of that spending authority was transferred to the appropriations committee. other response bullies were also reassigned. even so , it's a jurisdiction is so broad today that it is most often referred to as a powerful senate finance committee. as though the word powerful were part of its name. it is a societies tradition in these celebrations to offer a toast to the committee, so please join me. if you have your glass , and if you don't, just pretend. and offered toast to recognizing the long history and outstanding achievements of the

finance committee. to the senate finance committee. for shaping the economic foundation of our nation. for the g.i. bill of rights, and other programs supporting our veterans. for protecting the health and welfare of our older citizens , of children and those with special needs. for promoting international trade, and for a commitment to fiscal responsibility and economic growth. we salute the committee , its leaders , its members , and its staff. [ applause ]. it is my honor to introduce to you the chairman of the powerful senate finance committee. the hon. chuck grassley . in addition to

his leadership of the committee, sen. chuck grassley is known for his incredibly strong work ethic, his integrity, and his scrutiny of government spending. he has cast 7600 consecutive votes. the longest record in senate history. sen. chuck grassley was elected president pro tem of the senate for the current congress and is a senior republican in the senate. we could go on and on , but we will not because it is his turn to speak. sen. chuck grassley . [ applause ] >> thank you. as far as i'm concerned, you could go on and on. thank you for the recognition by the historical society. it is an honor to be here to recognize the originals standing committees of the united states senate.

the original ones. committees on finance, it was established more than two centuries ago on december 11, 1850. contrary to what my predecessor may have led some people to believe. sen. hatch and i were not original members of this committee. for more than two centuries a senate committee on finance has steered legislation through congress that is shaped american society and our way of life. i think you gave a better historical description of that that i am prepared to do. i appreciate your perspective of that. more than 100 years ago , it took passage of the 16th amendment to allow the federal government to raise revenue

through income tax. since then, the most ambitious and sweeping policy changes under the committee's jurisdiction is social security , a critical income safety net for the nation's elderly and disabled. the finance committee was also instrumental in the passage of the g.i. bill following world war ii to provide benefits to returning veterans, including tuition, home loans, and unemployment. as a returning chairman of the finance committee. i think the u.s. capital historical society for its very important work to educate and inform the american public. there is very much in iowa connection with the u.s. historical society. your organization was founded by by iowa congressman fred twinkle , who at the time i

came here , was a retired congressman. but still had of this association. will like the congressman i am a big fan of history and our system of self-government. fred and i go way back and recognize the importance of an informed public citizenry. a defining moment for the future congressman from iowa's first district took place at two decades before he was elected to the u.s. house of representatives. fred the blooming interest in history, particularly the life of abraham lincoln, he was considered a good scholar of abraham lincoln. was surmounted by none other than harry truman at that time , not pres. harry truman. after delivering a speech in 1934, the future president of

united states a learned about this iowa republicans interest in history. when induced truman grabbed the lapels of fred's coat and said something like "you got to know your history young man, if you want to be a good citizen" fred took that advice to heart. when he was elected to congress in 1954, he immersed himself in legislative affairs to commemorate a history. in 1962 he launched the u.s. capital historical society. since then the society has led an outstanding effort to educate the public about the history and heritage of our nation's legislative branch and the u.s. capital. stories are told that you never had a dig around the u.s. capitol building. if there was a whole, fred was

in the whole trying to find the cornerstone. the original cornerstone of the u.s. capital. i don't know how may times he took me on tours of the capital, and told me things i have since forgotten and wish i could've remembered. it is so important for us to have those details. and he knew those the details very much. if we do not honor and remember how we got here. we will fail following his admonition to find that best path forward. knowing history about the past. you have to know that to know what the right route is for the future. just consider two recent examples. last week we celebrated the centennial anniversary of the

women's right to vote. and then we observed the 75th anniversary of d-day. these crucial milestones of history rang the bell of liberty for freedom and equality here at home and abroad. the suffrage movement pave the way for women to have a big voice in government. we know today, a big growing voice in government is women and that's what america should be all about. to make sure that every interest is proportionally representative. operation neptune pave the way for all of our allied forces to liberate the entire continent from tyranny and tear. one of the fundamental areas of jurisdiction of the committee on finances taxation. one might argue that taxes and tyranny walk hand-in-hand together. it's kind of a fine line.

that is a marine talking there. we walk a fine line every day from the trenches of the senate finance committee. winston churchill the british bulldog once quipped "for a nation to try tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing on a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle". many of them most famous lawmakers served in the u.s. senate served on the senate finance committee, reflecting on its prestigious and inflectional influential work. sen. john f. kennedy chose five outstanding senators. they had all served on the finance committee, three of

them also chair the committee. looking back to the lens of history, also shows three u.s. present, eight vice presidents, and nine secretaries of u.s. treasury having served on the senate finance committee, as well. to my colleagues here this evening, i would suggest that the 20 senators who currently serve on the finance committee has some big shoes to fill. i'm glad to be here with my good friend and ranking member sen. ron wyden. we have a lot of our legislative bucketful. and we hope to accomplish great things as every chairman and ranking member would try to do. having served as finance

chairman a decade ago with another good friend and ranking member. we appreciate the value and the importance of cultivating bipartisan working relationships to get the job done. i'm also glad to be here tonight with the keynote speakers. both former members of the committee. you know they are on the agenda and you will hear from them. sen. don nickles and sen. blanche lambert lincoln will be very favorable interactions with colleagues. you got me off key. that's okay. you always did.

sewing a kernel of bipartisanship is the most productive way to achieve lasting results for years to come. as i mentioned, the finance committee manages a legislative taxpayers money. members of the committee working on opposites of the fence, would make for a very hard time weeding out our differences. working together we can cultivate and handle items in the legislative bucket. the 116 congress is doing heavy lifting

to reduce drug prices for american people. we are working to improve access to affordable healthcare and retirement savings. we want to reclaim some of congress constitutional authority to regulate international trade. we hope to pass the um sca trade issue and secure new market access opportunities with the european union, japan, and if possible and necessary the united kingdom. we are eager to rebalance the trade relationships with china. it is a rising tide that lifts all boats. when we paddle our oars in a bipartisan water, the senate committee on finance has a long history of legislative achievement. i am optimistic that we will continue this a strong tradition. so once again thank you to the

capital historical society for hosting, and for honoring the senate finance committee tonight. thank you very much. [ applause ] thank you, stirr chairman. now you see what distinguished leadership we have. i also thought it was fascinating that when sen. don nickles and sen. blanche lambert lincoln got married they took sen. lincoln's name. times are changing these days my job is to recognize someone who is not part of that marriage operation, but is a ranking member this powerful senate finance committee. sen. ron wyden. he is a distinguished leader,

he is one who we can go on about all night. his constituents described him as a good listener. he is one who believes in the town hall, and has a town hall meeting in every county in oregon every year. he uses those listening skills here in the senate to hear arguments on all sides of the issue and to define common sense bipartisan solutions. sen. ron wyden has the distinction of being the dean of the oregon congressional delegation. [ applause ]. but just to put this in perspective. sen. chuck grassley has town hall meetings in all 99 of his

counties. and as described in the state of iowa as the full grassley. >> i came over saying i would make sure that this was a filibuster free zone. i see some of my colleagues who will be very pleased about that. i think you may be here a while. a lot of people came because they wanted to talk about the upcoming debate about tax extenders. we may be here a little bit. i want to think jane campbell and the u.s. capital historical society. let's give them around of applause. giving us a chance to look back at history and forward. and i also want to thank my

friend, and partner. sen. chuck grassley. who gets up every morning at the leisurely hour of 4 am and then runs in ungodly number of miles. doesn't take time out. i'm also on the intelligence committee. i know a lot of details. doesn't even take time out for what he really loves to do. another shared passion which is visited dairy queen. i am very pleased to be here with the chairman. a lot of your wondered about this particular picture. this is from a very exciting moment of the affordable care act. when it was taken, barbara just snuck in. great to see.

thank you for coming. let's give mrs. grassley a big round of applause. we are always glad to have barbara in the house. this picture was taken in exciting moment during the affordable air care act of debate. i sent this to sen. lincoln. and said let's call it our honeymoon are shot. what you have is ralph kramden on the left, and his wife alice . looking as they always did. deeply into each other's eyes , not. it will forever be the finance committee's history. we call that the honeymoon are shot. i'm in a talk for a minute or

two seriously. as the chairman said. and also jane. what an extraordinary honor it is to serve on the senate finance committee. i am a first-generation jewish kid. my parents could not possibly believe i would have an honor like this i went to school on a basketball scholarship, i was dreaming of playing in the nba. it was a ridiculous idea. 6'4" i was too small. and i made up for by being really slow. that's what i wanted to do. to think that someone like myself, with my background. a first-generation jewish kid. would have this kind of honor, it takes your breath away. it says a lot about america. it says a lot about democracy, and what i have been able to do is focus on the things that were closest to my heart.

i was the director of the oregon gray panthers when i was coming up. i had a full head of hair and rugged good looks. we always focus on the issues that the chairman mentioned. healthcare, economic security, if you want to do that the place you have to go is the senate finance committee. there is no other place where you can do it. i want to close by giving you a little snapshot of what is still possible. when a lot of people are saying that everything is just to polarize. people are fighting all the time. you cannot do anything at all. here's what happened in the last session of congress in the senate finance committee. my friends here.

sen. grassley, sen. roberts, sen. harper. when no one said anything to get done. the senate finance committee produced a record second setting tenure children's health insurance program. nobody said you could do anything like that. it came from the senate finance committee in the last congress. we put in place the unprecedented set of reforms for foster care. the dream of the children's defense fund. for decades it was either foster care or stay in the home where the environment wasn't too great. we created a third option. kinship care. help for families. it's a revolution in foster care. something i'm very proud of. i think sen. roberts remembers this as well. we talked about it often. we began the transformation of medicare. when i was the director of the

gray panthers medicare had two parts. part a he went to the hospital, part b went to the doctor. that's not medicare today. it's cancer, diabetes, heart disease, strokes, all chronic illness. they're going to rename the program it would be the chronic illness program. we started the transformation of this from an acute care program to a chronic disease program. more care for folks at home. pat roberts leading the effort to promote telemedicine. it was hugely important for rural hospitals and facilities. i know that sen. cassidy, and sen. lincoln and i are talking about what we can do in addition in terms of rural healthcare. those are landmark accomplishments. the tenure chip bill, revising the foster care program, and transforming medicare and a polarized political time when everyone was saying nothing can

be done. that is a senate finance committee. with sen. hatch, sen. chuck grassley and all the people who worked so hard to do it. i just wanted to mention that in when not much bipartisan legislating is taking place, show up to the senate finance committee and see what we are trying to do. jane is given as a chance to look back a little bit. i want you to know that i particularly think the best days of the senate finance committee are ahead. because we are going to lead our way out of this path were so much seems to be debate, fighting and bickering. and build on some of the historical accomplishments of the last congress. sen. chuck grassley mentioned a few them. there will be democrats and the balkans working very hard to find common ground.

jane and historical society, thank you so much for giving us a chance to look back a little bit and look for. thank you everybody. [ applause ] >> thank you. so very much sen. ron wyden. it's really the job in many ways of historical society to give the opportunity for perspective. to think about what we have done, what are we trying to do, and how do we come together across boundaries? we do that by giving an opportunity for a bipartisan way. having people tell stories about what has happened, and what they hope to have happen. we are so grateful , mr. chairman and mr. ranking member that you agreed to convene this

body. and that you've selected someone who is not on the committee so the first person to share that honor is sen. don nickles. he was elected to the senate from oklahoma and 1981 and served for 24 years. in addition to being on the senate finance committee he held several leadership positions, beginning as the chair of the national republican senatorial committee. in 2005 he decided to make a career change, retiring from the senate and establishing a consulting firm. "

the nichols group". but if i'd stayed in the senate. chuck grassley and i were elected together in 1980. maybe in another 10 years i can become chairman of the finance committee. my wife would get a kick out of that. if you stay 30 years you could be chairman of the committee. the hatch and grassley just won't go. because he had seniority he was ranked higher serving in congress. i was 31 years old. i was the same age as most of the staffers at the time. i love the finance committee. i served on a lot of committees. back then people said you want

to be on finance. the first chance i had , it took me 12 years to get on the committee. it took ron nine years, chuck grassley got on in year one. that really irritates me. blanche lambert lincoln got on in year one. bill cassidy got on in his first term. it is not fair. it took me my third term to get on the finance committee. but i will tell you, i look back at the other committees , i was on budget for 24 years , that is work , all work. a lot of committees are work. finance, there's so much positive, so much good, you touch healthcare , you touch medicare, medicaid, trade, tax rates, and so on. you make it dramatic impacts on people's lives.

and that is so important. and you make history. you really do make history. when chuck and i were elected and had to be the same year that ronald reagan was elected. the maximum tax rate was 70%. eight years later it was 28%. wow! that is a real history. that is changing things. that is really positive. i thought it was positive. it was a bipartisan bill for a lot of that. that was bob dole, bill bradley, and a bunch of democrats and republicans working together to rewrite the tax code and rewrote in permanent law. that was a change. we did a permanent change in 1981 bob dole became the

chairman in 1981. russell long was elected to the senate when he was the result. even the chairman of the finance committee for a long time. and bob dole set i'm excited determine the finance committee, but who's going to tell russell he's not the chairman. the fact is they worked well together. you think of those big bills. that's phenomenal. i was a freshman senator, i was 32 the time when we did the 81 tax bill. i asked bob dole, something i feel very strong about , i wanted to permanently eliminate the inheritance tax for spouses. and we got that in the bill in 1981. i was 32 years old. wow! that was one of things i really

wanted to get done. my father had died years before, and i went through the inheritance battle. and that was when things i was really wound up about. i told somebody once we got it done, it may change the way you do your state estate planning. i put my home and my wife's name so that it if i die we don't have to pay inheritance tax. but we eliminate that penalty and i would try to get the house back in my name. it's real life. it makes a difference. and that's what the finance committee does and they're the best committee by far. i love to see the finance committee working together. to get a real things done. i look back into the early 80s when they made phenomenal changes. the house was never in republican control. they do that when the democrats control the house. with tip o'neill and jim wright. and the republicans control the

senate enough for six years. and they rewrote the tax code that dramatically. now that you have the house controlled by the democrats, republicans control the senate, surely he could do a major rewrite of similar significance? or maybe not? times are little different. i long to have the good times that we had. we really did have bipartisan work and we got monumental legislation done. where he really did have markups in committees where every member could offer any amendment on healthcare , tactical , trade, big monumental things. if you want a 70% rate are % rate you can offer it in that committee. i hope the people have the chance to do that in committee and on the regular floor. i love to see the committee

work its process, let everybody offer ideas. and if he gets voted down so what, that's part of the process. and blanche i'm delighted to know that we are married and i took your name. i don't know who's going to tell linda about that. we could be in big trouble. i can see you're over here with your boyfriend ron. i just want to say thank you. i also want to complement the historical society. since i retired from the senate i've always had the desire for history. i love learning more about our history. i'd even know what was involved. the jefferson davis was so

involved in building the capital building. in such a premier outstanding class that it is. with the columns and so on. you can look at all the other federal buildings. the capital is unique. it is the best. jefferson davis probably more than anybody else was responsible for that. and then later he became president of the confederacy. he more than any other senator was responsible for the building and design, and the architecture and so on. my complements to the historical society. you're doing a fantastic job. it's a great story to tell. and it's a great honor and privilege to be part of the senate, the capital, and frankly to be member of the best committee in the congress. the finance me. thank you all very much. [ applause ] >> thank you.

very much senator nickles. i want to tell you that anytime you want to have a good historical to her, the chief tour guide will be happy to take you through the capital. he has a 10 hour tour that is available. when i first came i said i want to come on one of your tours. and he said you want the 10 hour tour? i think could i have a shorter version to start out? he does note every background, and we are delighted to provide that to current and former members. there is one other former member i want to acknowledge. mary landrieu. senator nickles said that the energy committee is a bunch of hard work. imagine working for the person who is the chairman of the energy committee.

there are stories we will not tell. there's one other group we need to acknowledge. everyone who is now or has ever been a senate staffer stand up. thank you. i do that before i present to you sen. lincoln. because sen. lincoln is one of the few people that was as staffer who decided i could do this better than my boss. ran against him and won. this is a unique a thing. so you all better be careful. this is not what was in the script i want you to know. this isn't what i was post to read to present sen. lincoln. they say well behaved women rarely make history.

blanche lincoln was elected from arkansas in 1998 and served two disturbance distinguished terms. she lobbied for a position on finance from day one. and she got it. sen. roberts is rolling his head going all my goodness. although she was a democrat, she fit right in with her republican colleagues. she was raised on a farm, and like sen. grassley and sen. nickles , she was an advocate to address the estate tax. she also played herself in the documentary "14 women". like sen. nickles afterlife in the senate she set up consulting firm, hers advises on public policy.

sen. lincoln. [ applause ] >> thank you jane and thank you to the historical society for doing so many great things. i'm probably one of the only members that reads your publication that comes in the mail. keep it coming. i have to say is a wonderful photograph that ron sent me. i can't thank you enough for sharing it with me years ago. when it first came out, we were sitting there going oh my god, is there going to be another opening statement. mr. chairman, thank you very much for having me tonight. and ron thank you for asking me. i'm grateful to be here. don it's been great. not only do we serve on the committee together but we are blessed to get to work together

still now. it's a lot of fun and were doing some really good stuff. so i really appreciate that. pat roberts, thank you. just as i wanted from day one to be on the senate finance committee, when i served in the house of representatives, i was elected, came as a staffer 1982, but i won my election in 1992 to the house. of course the democrats were in the majority. i asked for five committees. because if you don't ask, you don't get. i didn't get them all, but i did get on ag , and i got on energy and commerce. having been a staffer, i fell absolutely love with the debate and the work of the committee. i felt like it was empowering not just to me, but to my constituents, to my family. i used to watch my dad, but testify before the appropriators in the district

about how much money they needed to keep the floodwaters at bay. and i thought how wonderful is that? that an american citizen can come up and testify before the committee and really tell them about what is going on? so without love of committee i did get a little greedy. i asked for lots of committees. john dingell was a favorite of mine , we lost john this year. but he was a wonderful chairman. i got on the energy and commerce and i asked for the merchant marines and the fisheries committee. i said why? nobody wants that? i also got on ag. and if you remember 1994 there was a switch in leadership. republicans took over and then with the new revolution, pat took over the house ag committee.

ag committee. so i went to pat and i said i want to stay on the ag committee and he said you cannot because the numbers are not there. and you're the last person answer the first person out. he was really sweet about it. but he said no. so i showed up at a few hearings a sad in the hall with all the people that came to the hearings. and pat will look at me like what is she doing out there? i came to 3-4 and he said finally come appearance it. you're not on the committee but you can come appearance that. he was really sweet. i appreciate that. pat was good to me. i have to say when i did come to the senate, i knew exactly what committee i wanted to be on. i wanted to be on the senate finance committee. i am sorry that max is not here, i completely wore him out. he and tom were so amazing.

having been a staffer, i knew how to go about the committees. in the house it was your regional caucuses. mike was my secret weapon over in the house , when i got to the senate tom daschle listen to me, and he said that was the first mistake listening to me. they were wonderful trying to help me. it has been an honor. it was a true honor of my life to serve on the committee. that has been mentioned. and great luminaries of our history have served there. daniel webster, thomas hart benton, john calhoun, and of course ron wyden. right here . it was gratifying to serve on a committee that had so much power and jurisdiction.

when i served on the committee we also did trade. as for handling trade issues i hope it's coming back. i am on the road right now with two former trade staff members of the finance committee. you will remember angela hoffman and carrie phillips clark. they have shrink-wrapped a motorhome and they are traveling across the country. i get a pop in every now and then, have a glass of wine and talk about farmers for free trade. and it is a ton of fun. the fun doesn't stop here. particularly when you work hard with staff. it makes a big difference, and they still have the same passions. when we leave the senate , we still have passions. it's been a great opportunity for me. to read the history the senate finance committee is to read the history of our country. the battles over tariffs, the national bank of jackson that was mentioned earlier. income tax, social security, medicare. those battles were fought in

the committee. i remember those battles that we fought. whether was the affordable care act, whether was taxes. when i came to the senate in 1998, i was 38 years old, i had twin two-year-olds. i came to the committee and it was a little bit different there. as we thought those battles, and there were many of them. i frequently had peanut butter and jelly on my lapel. sleepless nights, and occasionally my twins were in my office because they were sick, or was a snow day and they were out of school. one of those days happen to be a day that we were doing welfare reform. and chuck grassley was on the chair. we were talking about childcare. the democrats wanted to spend way too much money and the republics were like we can't spend any money. so i was just sitting there thinking, my kids are up in my

office, i don't know what they're doing, it's crazy out there. i looked over and everybody start talking and then somebody said something like can't the grandparents take care of them? chuck grassley looked me in the eye, and i looked up and i was like whoa. he looked over the republican city said i think we better let her talk because her teapot is about to pop. it was wonderful to be able to talk and come to a conclusion where we actually did increase the funding for child care in the welfare reform bill. not as much of the democrats wanted , but a little more than the republicans wanted , and probably somewhere in the middle where we needed to be.

of before but thanks to this historical society i discovered was hazel able of nebraska who was appointed and served. the second woman to serve on the senate finance committee and the first to do so substantively was carol moseley braun who served on the committee in 2004-2005 congresses. then came the gals from arkansas and maine the 107th congress. it was olympia snowe and myself. i could not have asked for a more wonderful part are as a female. olympia snowe was phenomenal to

work with. a hard-working, thorough, and anxious to do good. that made a difference. since she is not here tonight and we were in the majority when all that happened i'm going to go ahead and say i'm the third woman of the committee. she's going to be the fourth. and today there have been nine women out of 372 members. there are 4 on the committee today tying the record of the 111th congress. they are all democrats unfortunately. we've got to get some republican women on there. and with 12 years under their belt these are the longest serving women on the senate finance committee so i'm very proud of them and grateful to them for all that they have done and continue to do. i would like to say that when i think about what we said about the committee work, it is the

place where you realize how our government was founded. it was founded on trying to find consensus. it's looking at issues and things that affect our families and our home state in a way that need to be fixed and finding the consensus that's going to do it. i also have found that under the committee system one of the greatest things that comes out of your time there is the friendship. it is where you get to work with other members and you become friends. you see less of your differences and more of the things that you believe in together. pat robinson fell on the other side for me in the senate finance committee and i will never forget, he probably doesn't remember this, one day i'm sure i looked battered and had peanut butter and jelly on

my shoulder again. you sent a note to me that said [ laughter ] it's very cute. i'm not supposed to say cute that i do. i must have been dozing off a bit i think because that sent me a note and said if you raise your feet off the floor it will keep you awake. [ laughter ] and i wrote him back a note that said pat, in these chairs, my feet don't touch the ground. [ laughter ] so, the friendships were built. it was also the things that you learned not only in the substantive part of it but in the friendship. i don't know if chuck grassley remembers this but one of the best things that i learned in congress, i had a bill on the

floor. it wasn't a bill, it was an amendment. i had been raised with a lot of things. my grandmother's role of law was there is never a good excrete-- excuse to be rude or dangerous. the other part of her rule of law is all anyone can say is no but they can't say no if you don't ask. i knew it was going to be a close vote and said chuck, i really need you to help you. i really wish you would. it's not a big deal, i think it could be helpful to you and i just hope you will consider it. and i bugged him again and then he said okay i'll tell you what. if it comes down to one vote that you need, i'll be with you. guess what? it came down to one vote. >> did i deliver? >> you did. you voted with me.

i was so proud. i don't think you ever knew how proud i was because i saw in the united states senate the kind of integrity and a person standing behind their word that they had given to me and it made me feel so incredible. several days later i went over and he was wearing this pretty red vest and i said you sure look handsome in that red vest. i have to give you a hug and can't thank you enough for voting for me in the amendment. i gave him a hug and he said don't do that other women will come over and hug me. [ laughter ] but the point being is this country belongs to all of us and we all have good ideas and we all work hard to make a difference. in a committee like the senate finance committee you can make

that difference. when you reach out and work with people it does make a difference because you solve problems. russ sullivan who i see has moved here from my current saw will attest to i did believe in my grandmother's saying which was all they can say is no but they can't say no if you don't ask. the last time i asked for another amendment he looked at me and said you've already gotten about 10. [ laughter ] no more. you are cut off. >> thank you all for letting me, my former and current colleagues have that opportunity as a young woman, a young mother and a husband working like crazy to keep our head above water, an opportunity what the real united states senate is about. is the senate finance committee, you are here.

>> [ applause ]. >> sen. nicholson first. you've got to get your present. >> one of the things that we have at the capital historical society is very special merchandise that has special relationships to the capital. this for you sen. is a replica of the capital made from marble that is from the capital. >> >> and for you sen. lincoln [ laughter ] we have a that is made representing the community--. we see that you

are a scarf person and now you will be able to spruce it up, but thank you both very much for coming. [ applause ] and of course, we don't just give prizes to the folks who are gone from the senate. sen. wyden? sen. grassley? will you please come-- >> [ laughter ] >> what is it? >> whatever you want it to be. >> great. >> this is a replica also made from marble from the capital of the statue of freedom. it stands on top of the capital. when sen. nickles talked about the capital building, the capital building is across the world and standing on top of that

capitol is the statue of freedom. if you go on one of steve's tour is you will hear the story about the discussion of when they were building it. who should be on the top? because our democracy was different. it was a revolutionary idea. at that time every country had something so who would go on the top? george washington should go on top and people said no because we don't want it to be an individual. we want it to be a symbol. the lady freedom. and that is who is on the top and we give that to you as a thank you. >> thank you so much. [ applause ] >> thank you and for all of you who have come to make this possible there is one group of people we haven't acknowledged and that is the staff of the historical society.

stand up. [ applause ] thank you very much. the beverages are still here so you may enjoy one another and our photographer has a few photos to take. thank you so much.

a form on the importance and legacy of the declaration of independence. after that author james nolan looks at observations made by notable visitors during different periods of us history. here's that form on the declaration of independence pick >> dr. bell has presented many forms on topics leading to american history and the revolutionary period over the past several years. he received his phd from harvard and his ba from the university of cambridge in england. he is associate professor of history at the university of maryland in college park where he specializes in early