♪ .

>> i would like to all to join in this final commendation. give rest, of christ, to die servin to fifth thy saints -- saintsthy servant with thy saints. you only are immortal, creator and maker of mankind and we are mortal, form of the turearth anf the earth we must return. all we go down to the dust, yet even at the grave, we make our song, hallelujah, hallelujah,

anglophilihallelujah. give rest to the servin with your st. yusaf where sorrow and pain are no more, neither side in, but life everlasting. now, into thy hands 0 merciful save your we commend your servin, walter. he is a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. receive him into the arms of your mercy, into the blast rest -- blessed rest of everlasting peace and into the glorious company of the saints in light. finaamen. life is short and we do not have too much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us.

if so, the swift to love, make haste to be kind, and may god bless in, father, son, and police. the with you and remain with you always. amen. let us go forth in the name of christ. thanks be to god. ♪ >> ♪ 0h, when the saints go marching in oh, when the saints go marching in o.h., lord, i want to be in the

number when the saints go marching in ♪ [choir sings]

♪

♪ [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> next, a portrait unveiling of the state department for former secretary colin powell. after that, members of the senate pay tribute to virginia senator robert byrd for becoming the law was serving congressman in u.s. history. -- the longest serving congressman in u.s. history.

tonight, a look at the best books of 2009. several news organizations have published their best out list for the years. tonight, books by ann coulter, harold evans and others. for the entire list, visit our web site booktv.org. former secretary of state colin powell was honored earlier this month with a portrait. there were also remarks from current secretary of state hillary clinton. it is 25 minutes. [applause]

>> welcome to the benjamin franklin room here at the state department for such a happy occasion. totally in keeping with the spirit of the times where we are about to have the unveiling of the official portrait of colin powell as the secretary of state. four years ago, hundreds of employees from across the state department gathered in the lobby downstairs to cheer for their boss as he said goodbye. today, i am delighted to join staff, family and friends in saying to my predecessor, welcome back. id is good to see you here again. -- it is good to see you here again. [applause] colin powell served as secretary of state during a time of swift and far reaching change, both for our nation and world. his tenure began just a few

weeks into the new millennium. nine months later, the september 11 attacks occurred. and days and weeks that followed, secretary paul provided a steady and hopeful voice as americans -- secretary powell provided a steady and hopeful voice as americans faced an uncertain future ahead. on the day of the attacks, secretary powell was in lima, peru, attending a special session of the organization of american states to adopt the inter-american democratic charter, it critical instruments for strangling -- strengthening public institutions and helping democracy deliver real improvements to people's lives. when he heard that the planes had hit the towers, he told his staff that they would be returning to the united states immediately and then he returned to the session to cast our nation's vote in favor of the charter. he did this not only because it was the initial purpose for his visit, but because in the face

of that attack on our nation's mainland it was more important than ever to stand for democracy and freedom and show the world that our beliefs and our principles will not waver. colin powell has been guided by these values throughout his life. he has been a voice for these values. indeed, the experiences and perspectives that he brought with him to the state department made him particularly well suited to serve as secretary of state. he knew from growing up in an immigrant community the promise and possibility is that america represents to the world. he knew from his years as a soldier, the extraordinary power and reach of the american military, and the impact america can have on the world not only in shaping the course of history, but also in transforming the lives of ordinary people. a profound responsibility that he carried with him purif.

he knew from his experience in war that fundamental principle of the american foreign policy, that military action should be used as a last resort after diplomacy has been pursued with the highest rigorous and scale. and he knew that few other countries -- in few other countries could a child of immigrants rights to be a general and chief diplomat and that an essential element of america's promise is our success in helping all people get the chance to achieve their dreams. at the state department he worked to expand opportunity to marginalize people worldwide. a -- two marginalizeto marginale worldwide. there are few americans that are as admired and celebrated as general powell. he has received just about every civilian national award there is, including the

congressional gold medal, and two presidential medal of freedom. he is only one of three people in history to achieve that honor. but people of around the country and the world have also voiced their gratitude for him in other quieter ways. there is an elementary school named after him in virginia. there are a couple more of named after him in texas pittsford in middle school in illinois. a street in germany where a second lieutenant colin powell reported for duty 50 years ago. [laughter] an artist has just completed a mural entitled "homage to colin powell" which depicts the night sky over jamaica when he was born hundreds of miles north in new york. [applause] it will be hung in the u.s. embassy in kingston to remind all visitors of the contributions of one of jamaica's most famous sons has

made to global progress, prosperity and peace. it is also a great pleasure to welcome back mrs. powell and the family, to be part of this unveiling. i assume you have seen it, collin, or you would not be your. [laughter] did i mention how gutsy colin powell is? [laughter] able to accept the unknown and go forward. so today, we unveil another work of art dedicated to this public servant and this great american. and i join all members of the foreign and civil service and the employees of the state department in thanking view for the time that you spent here. it is a great privilege to serve in this position and to look at the portrait of my predecessors as i walk around the seventh

floor. now i will be able to look at your portrait as well. and it will give me great pleasure. thank you so much for everything. [applause] >> thank you so very much, thank you. [applause] thank you very much. thank you. thank you so very much, ladies and gentleman, and secretary clinton. hilary, i thank you for your kind remarks in hosting this ceremony. i especially want to thank your wonderful protocol staff, king townsend working closely with my

staff and pulled this altogether. if i am deeply appreciative of all of this. this is the second official portrait that i have. i have an official portrait of the pentagon in the hall of chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. that portrait was done during the clinton administration. and that was during the time when al gore was doing the reinventing government program. so, it is an eight by 10 glossy that has been blown up. [laughter] it is an aid by 10 glossy that i do like and it was blown up to full size, put in a framed and hung on the wall. [laughter] you are even come on today -- you are even today, hillary. >> well, that is how we balance the budget. >> i am honored and thank full

for your presence today. so many have come from -- friends and family from the bronx, friends and family as a soldier, my life in the government. if i can audit knowledge everyone here or we would be all afternoon, but there are a few people i have to say a word about. first, i want to thank the artist, stephen colstopoleson fa marvelous job. stephen is a wonderful artist and i thank him for the magic he has applied to this portrait, i hope. [laughter] i also want to express my appreciation for people who have come from afar from other lands, beginning with the hon. peter mckay, the minister of defence of canada, a young man that i

have gotten to know in recent years and i thank you for making the effort to be with us today. there are other men who -- here who i served with when i was foreign secretary, or secretary of state, as we call it, and two of them here, the vice chancellor and minister of foreign affairs of the german republic, and my counterpart in the russian federation. it was the responsibility of my core station in frankfurt to guard the foldout. at that time, russka was the head of the radical greens party. i did not really know him then, but we intersected from time to time. my commanders came in and said, the greens have just gone on a tank driving range and planted trees all over the place so we

cannot drive our tanks anymore. we're going to run over the trees. no, no, you are not. q. do not run over the trees in germany. -- you do not run over the trees in germany. if this is a time for smart power, decisive power. we dug up all the trees, brought them to a housing area, off replanted them -- replanted them and then invited the greens to come to our ceremony of rededication. i do not. russka was there -- i do not do notyashh do notyashka was there. we have worked on so many issues, it is hard to list them all about it taking an hour. but he was always a different and a deer associates.

this does not mean we had no disagreements. the we had your disagreements and many of you remember if the disagreement we have with germany over the iraq situation in 2003 to the point where our leaders were somewhat estranged from each other. but yashka and i were never a strange winter because we understood that what is important is to come back together. what i remember most vividly from those trying days is that yashka would say to make my you know, we have to keep working together. we in germany will never forget what the u.s. has done for us over these years. we have to make sure that these guys are never broken. and yashka especially wanted to do this in the time after the cold war when we were bringing hundreds of thousands of soldiers home from europe. and he was concerned that a

smaller number of soldiers in europe would break the link that we have always had with the german people concerning our commitment to the atlantic alliance and our commitment to germany. and so, of all the ministers i have worked for the end of the people i have had to deal with over the years, yashka fisher is one of the los prominent pro american officials i have ever worked with and off, yashka, i thank you for that purify [applause] -- i thank you for that [applause] ] igor egan off -- igor even off and i became exception -- exceptionally good friends over the years. we worked on the treaty of moscow, which took us down significantly with respect to weapons. we worked together through trying times as we watched georgia and ukraine emerged from their post-communist time.

many a long night we spent on the phone as we chatted through these transitions of without violence. we worked through situations that were so difficult, but similarly as with yashka, i could always count on his support and understanding because we knew that we had to make sure that the ties that bind remain strong. that is what diplomacy is all about. that is why we have a state department. to make sure that the people of the united states, the president of the united states are representing the values of the united states to other nations. and we take into account their values and their salt -- sovereign interests. it is a partnership with every nation of the world in one way or another. we must always advocate are believed in democracy, our belief in human rights, our belief in the will of the

people. we should always be committed to extending the hand of american generosity to people in need from the world. we should always be working to solve problems short of conflict and prepared to explain our reasoning when conflict becomes necessary. always respected the right of other nations to disagree with us and often dealing with regimes that do not share our values. in all of this, the president of the united states and the secretary of state are blessed to have men and women throughout the department of state who do a magnificent job every single day. while we are here in this beautiful ben franklin room, there are thousands of diplomats, foreign service offices, foreign service nationals and service around the waist -- around the world that are serving us so well. they're not wearing striped pants if they're on a provincial reconstruction team in

afghanistan or iraq. they're not wearing striped pants if they are in an embassy that is under siege or under threat. they are not wearing striped pants in the middle of a coup. they're not wearing striped pants and fear dealing with the challenges of the world, if they are out there providing antiretroviral drugs to people in need for solving the problem of hunger for clean water. they're wonderful people who have dedicated themselves and their careers to the service of the american people. i consider it one of the greatest honors and privileges i have ever had in my life to have been given the opportunity to be the secretary of state and to leave the wonderful men and women of the state department as they go about their work. i thank each and every one of them from the bottom of my heart. i thank president bush for having given me that opportunity. the portrait you are about to see i have not seen. i have seen pictures of it. stephen took photos of it as we went along and send them down.

but i do not know what the last version looked like. but last night as i was thinking about today, i took a look at the last photo that stephen cents and i think it is a pretty nice photo, but what brought my attention is the background. there weren't -- there is nothing in the background, no cases, no background window that i'm gazing out of. [laughter] is a very dark background, as you will see, with highlights. you cannot tell if you are inside or outside. you cannot tell if that is someone coming in, or just the spotlight. you cannot tell exactly what the color scheme means because as you go lower in the portrait, the color of my suit blanton to the background and the only thing really visible is my right hand. stephen and i had not really sat down to psychoanalyze all of this, but as i looked at it last night thinking about why stephen did it this way and why is there nothing in the background, it occurred to me that there is a

lot in the background. i am not alone in his portraits. there are images that kept coming across my mind as i looked at it, images of people i have served with and worked with over the years. when to give their individual that could not be you're with us today, my beloved friend and deputy richard armitage, who is in asia, and as you know, pulling the few remaining years he has out because he could not be here with us today. all the soldiers that i have served with, there are many images that i can see in my mind's eye, the minute -- the image of my wife and our children. and the 47 years that we have travelled this path together. many images, but always there is an image that way in the back of two little people that came to this country almost 90 years ago, where -- with a belief in

this country. they wanted to be a part of the society. they never forgot the land they left until they did they died. they called it, but now they have a new home in america. and all they -- they called it home, but now they had a new home in america. and all it wanted to do was create a life and have children. they had two children. if one went on to be a great teacher and the other a soldier. and it passed on to their extended family, so many of whom are here today, the belief in this nation and giving a desire to serve this nation, which we have tried to do. this is the strength of our country, the fact that we can take in people all over the world, that we are a nation of nations. we have great soldiers to go forward and fight for us. we have intelligence people off. we have all kinds of strength and assets, but the greatest strength we have, the greatest asset we have to do with the

problems of our world and the challenges we face is the nature of our society, our openness. this wonderful, diverse society that we have. the diversity is a source of our strength, the glue that holds us together, a lubricant that keeps us moving forward and we must never forget that. i remind myself of this every day as i think about my parents and i think about the great diversity that is america. what a wonderful country god has given to us and what we have done with it is remarkable and the best is yet ahead as long as we remain open and touch the rest of the world and as long as we believe in our value system and reach out to the rest of the world. every time i have any slight doubt, i use two little stories to remind me of what this country is about. the first has to do with the japanese businessman, very successful, it is -- a billionaire. he was being interviewed on japanese television one afternoon and the interviewer said to him, of all the cities

in the world, which is your favorite? and he immediately said new york. and i was surprised and said, why not rome, london, paris? he said, because new york is the only city in the world where when i walk down the street people, to me and ask for directions. [laughter] new york, washington, chicago, los angeles, that is who we are, that is what we are. that is our destiny and let's never forget it. my final story is a new york story. if i may new york died. whenever i go back to new york and i'm walking of one of the great avenues, usually park, and i'm admiring all of the buildings and watching the humanity go by and i always stopped at one of the crosstrees to buy a hot dog from the hot dog peddler, one of those new york dirty water dogs that some of you are familiar with. but it has to have the mustard

and relish. that is what makes a new york hot dog. and i do it all the time. and not too long ago i was walking up park avenue and i was going to crawl -- follow my traditional pattern of going over to the hot dog peddler and i did and i walked up to him and i ordered my hot dog, mustard, and in and relish. and as he handed it to me he said, i know you. the u.n. general powell purified -- you are general powell. if and he handed me the hot dog and i handed him the money and he said, no, general, you cannot have to pay me. if you cannot pay me. i have already been paid. america has paid me. i am here purif. i never forget where i come from, but i am an american and my children are american, but general, i have been paid. please take thought of. i walked of the street with a warm glow, remembering this is

the same country that greeted my parents and maybe your grandparents and others over the years. that is our greatest strength. that is what makes us who we are. we will deal with the challenges that we face and we will create a wonderful new opportunities for a better, brighter world. thank you very much. [applause] [applause]

>> i invite all of you to read the paul's -- powells. i'm sorry we could not recognize everyone who is here, members of congress, former members of congress, sitting senators, former members of cabinet, so many wonderful people. i apologize to my have to go over to the white house for a meeting with prime minister airfa one and the turkish delegation. -- erduwan and the turkish delegation. thank you for joining us on this very happy occasion. [applause]

>> here is a look at our schedule. next, members of the senate pay tribute to west virginia senator robert byrd for becoming the longest serving member of congress in u.s. history. then on q&a, more about the senator with ray smock, the director of the robert c. byrd center for legislative studies

in shepherdstown west virginia. after that, therefore toward unveiling of former senator trent lott in the u.s. capitol. -- the portrait unveiling a former u.s. senator trent lott in the capital. >> all this week, interviews with supreme court justices. tonight we will sit down with justices scalia -- scully and ginsburg. justice scalia -- justices scalia and ginsburg. justice scalia talks about the processes that the accord follows in reaching a decision. justice ginsburg has served since 1993 and she gives a tour of her chambers as she discusses life before reserving. see that at 8:00 p.m. eastern tonight on c-span. >> it is a three-day weekend on both tv, starting new year's day with new biographies of molly ivins and i ran. also, letters to michelle obama

gail collins talked about five decades of women's history with gwenn ifill. and michele morgan takes your calls sunday on the in depth. find the full schedule at booktv.org. >> last month, west virginia senator robert byrd became the longest serving congressional member in history. he came to washington in 1953 to serve in the u.s. house and six years later was elevated to the senate. senator byrd past the previous record held by democratic lawmaker carl hayden, who represented qarizadah in the house and senate from 1912 to 1969. -- represented arizona in the house and senate from 1912 to 1969. this is 10 minutes. virginia. mr. byrd: i thank the chair. thank you, pat. i thank senator reid, my leader.

i thank senator mcconnell. and i thank my colleague and dear friend senator jay rockefeller and all senators, every one, for their good words and for this outstanding resolution. today, madam president, is. mormore than a commemoration ofe length of service of one u.s. senator. today also celebrates the great

people of the great and mighty state of west virginia. who have honored me by repeatedly placing their faith in me. because of those wonderful people in west virginia, this foster son of an impoverished coal miner from the great hills of southern west virginia has had the opportunity to walk with kings, to meet with prime ministers, and to debate with presidents.

i've had the privilege not only to witness, but also to participate in the great panarama of history. from the apex of the cold war to the collapse -- the collapse of the soviet union, from my opposition to the 1964 civil rights act to my part in securing the funds for the building of the memorial to martin luther king, from my support for the war in vietnam

to my opposition to president george w. bush's war with iraq, i have served with so many fine senators in the congress. and i've loved every precious minute of it. i recall those days a long time ago when i walked three miles down a hollow in the snow in order to catch a bus to attend a two-room school in mercer

county, southern west virginia. in west virginia after school i went from house to house collecting scraps of food. i was the scrap boy collecting scraps of food to feed the hogs of my coal miner dad. raised in a pen beside a railroad track to support the family budget. little could i have ever

imagined or dreamed while i was feeding those hogs or walking in the snow to catch a bus to school that one day, under god's great mercy, i would become the longest serving member in the history, the great history of the united states congress. and i am grateful, simply grateful to an almighty god for having had an opportunity to

serve my state of west virginia and to serve our great nation. my only regret -- my only regret is that my dear wife erma is not here to enjoy this moment with me. but i know -- yes, i do! -- that she is smiling down from heaven and reminding me not to get a big head.

again, i thank all senators, i thank all west virginians. may the great god almighty continue to bless these united states of america, and may he keep her forever free. madam president, i yield the floor.

press after senator byrd spoke about surpassing the record for longest serving congressional member, several others spoke of his long career. we will begin with long island senator jack reed, followed by west virginia's junior senator jay rockefeller, and mitch mcconnell and john kyl. this is 25 minutes. rising to pay tribute to my chairman and longest-serving senator in the history of this country, the senior senator from west virginia, robert c. byrd.

he has reached a milestone among many in his career. it is an extraordinary record of service and dedication an patriotism to the country and reflects the values of the people of west virginia and the people of this great nation. extraordinary service measured not just in length, but accomplishment. but the length is impressive, indeed. 20,744 days of service as a member of the congress. 56 years and 10 1/2 months. and over that time senator byrd has cast 18,500 roll calls, more or less, witnessed the inauguration of 11 presidents and has been successful in 15 out of 15 elections. that's impressive, indeed. for over 60 years he has represented the people of west virginia tirelessly and with a

great deal of energy and a great deal of success. he started in the west virginia house of delegates, was elected to the west virginia state senate and then went to the united states house of representatives and, finally, came here to the united states senate where he is currently serving an unprecedented ninth full term. i think senator byrd's success is a reflection of his steady progress. learning first about the people of his home state as he worked among them. knowing them well because they were his friends and neighbors. and then going on into local government and dealing with the concerns as a state representative and then as a state senator, and then coming to the house of representatives and understanding the operation of the house and how he can help the people of west virginia, and then finally coming to the united states senate. what is incredibly impressive

about senator byrd is that he is not only the longest serving senator in the history of this country, he is the most knowledgeable senator with respect to the history of our body. he is the -- he's the author. he wrote the book, literally, on the u.s. congress and the u.s. senate, amongst the many that he's written. and this reflects his incredible talent and intellect, but also his incredible hard work and tenacity. and reflects the range of experiences he's had. no one knows this body better than robert byrd. no one has served it longer. no one has served it with the same kind of energy and insight and dedication. of course, it's been reflected in west virginia. but it's been reflected across the nation, across the globe. in west virginia, for example, when senator byrd first came here as a united states congress

ann, there were only four miles of divided four-lane highway in 1947. today, as a result of senator byrd, the expansive appalachian development highway system is nearing completion. and he understood, as we must understand today, that economic development is a fundamental, not only need, but it results from the infrastructure improvements that speed commerce, that connect -- literally connect people one to another. he also was a tireless advocate for miners and those men and women, but principally men, who go down -- literally risk their lives in the coal mines. and he went down and knew this firsthand. and as a result, the mining-related injuries in west

virginia have significantly declined since senator byrd came here. a result of his action, a result of his understanding, a result of his commitment to the people he served to work hard each and every day, who, indeed, risk their lives in a very dangerous occupation and deserved the attention and -- not only the attention, but the respect of this body and our country. now, he has done much more than helped the people of west virginia. as i indicated before, as the greatest scholar in our body, he has demonstrated a profound understanding and respect for the constitution of the united states. and he's shown that not just in words, but he's shown it in deeds. he has been prepared to stand up, when he thought constitutional values were being impaired. he has demonstrated a commitment

to the people of west virginia, the people of this nation, but no commitment is greater to senator byrd than his commitment to the constitution, to the values therein. and he has stood up forcefully and persuasively on so many occasions to defend the constitution and to -- to serve, truly, the goal we all take, which is to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution. now, on friday senator byrd will celebrate his 92 birthday. he will celebrate that in his usual fashion. he will work, i'm sure. he will work for the people of west virginia. he will work for the people of this country and he will work for the people of the world. and he will, i'm sure, reflect back on his dearest partner, his wife who was his support, his comfort and his inspiration. he will reflect upon his children and grandchildren and

his great grandchildren, and will reflect upon a life well lived and service to this country, but more importantly, he will look ahead to the work he will do as he finishes this term and perhaps for his next election to represent the people of west virginia.feller: i thane presiding officer. mr. president, i could not be prouder to rise today to congratulate a public servant without any peer at all; that being senator robert c. byrd of west virginia. on this actually very momentous day -- november 18, 2009 -- my dear friend and colleague becomes the longest-serving member of congress in the history of this nation. and on friday, he will celebrate a joyous birthday. we come together today as an institution to recognize that no

senator in history has passed more votes or has been elected by his colleagues to more leadership position than robert c. byrd. no one else has signed enormous warmth, tremendous respect and the unwavering admiration that we all share for senator robert c. byrd. i am lucky every day to call senator byrd my friend, as i've been able to work with him in the senate for the last 25 years and for the preceding eight years when i was a governor. but most importantly and most powerfully, mr. president, senator byrd always makes me so very proud to be a west virginian. at our state capital in charleston, they're honoring senator byrd with a special celebration today, and the same

is happening in cities and communities all across our state. my fellow west virginians are giving thanks to senator byrd's voice and for his vision. we're grateful for his strength and his rock-solid principle which has come to define west virginia as surely as our endless hills and beautiful streams. the people of my state love and respect senator robert c. byrd, in part because so many share his very powerful story. so many have battled against the odds and continue to fight every day to try to make a better life for themselves and for their community. and they're proud of their state, even knowing that their state is not known by many, but

they take pride in their unity. even in this hardest -- even in the hardest, youngest days of his life, senator robert c. byrd never grew discouraged. it was not his nature. growing up, he faced enormous challenges, but he had something called an iron will and he had a sense of purpose. now, years later, we can sum up that purpose with the phrase "fighting for west virginia." it has always rung true, whether it is his 50th birthday or tph-frbgt his 92 -- or in fact his 92nd birthday, whether he was a freshman in the house or the senate's longest-serving member. it has never changed with robert c. byrd. his fight for west virginia is

fundamental to his world, which is west virginia's world. not just building roads, so often associated with senator byrd, and to be sure those roads have transformed our states and connected us with other parts of the nation and to each other, but so much more. when you pick up a local newspaper, always some institution, some college, some volunteer fire department, some research institute at a university or college has been helped by senator byrd. it's his job, but it's also his very special honor at which he excels because of his love for west virginia. and now this week, i think of the many birthdays past that he has shared with many of us and with his precious wife, erma, his partner in everything who gave him great strength and

great faith. it was a little sad to me, and i think to all of us who know him, the cost to him of her death. he changed just a little bit in ways that are hard to explain but ways which are very deep within his soul, because he loved her so much and depended on her so much. so as we mark this tremendous milestone today, she's very much in our hearts. so please allow me to take this special moment to thank my friend and congratulate him on this profound day in the whole history of the senate, which truly sets him apart from all the rest. i am delighted to celebrate such

an incredible milestone. i wish him a wonderful birthday, many years of service, and all the happiness in the world. but most of all, i thank him for what matters the most to me, and that is his profound service to the people of the state of west virginia. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that my full statement be included in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. rockefeller: i yield the floor call. mr. akaka: i ask that the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. the senator from hawaii. mr. akaka: mr. president, i rise to honor and extend my warmest aloha to my colleague, mentor, and good friend, senator robert c. byrd, for reaching this unprecedented milestone. my colleague from west virginia has held the most prestigious

and influential positions in this legislative body. today he is the senate president pro tempore but we know him as the dean of the senate. we are so lucky to have him as he continues to maintain the highest standards and senate decorum and constitutional procedure. mr. president, senator byrd has served this country for nearly a quarter of its existence -- 56 years, ten months, 16 days. his dedicated service to his state and this country and his unrivaled knowledge of parliamentary procedure continues to be an inspiration to me and to many others in the congress and to people around the country. senator byrd's inspiring story

is rooted in his modest up bringing and steadfast determination to serve this country. growing up, his parents taught him the value of hard work. he worked as a butcher and a grocer, won election to the west virginia legislature, then to congress. his work ethic allowed him to earn a law degree from american university while serving in the house. but it's not all work. senator byrd and i share a love for music and the arts. he is an accomplished musician. his amazing fiddle playing was even showcased at the grand oal opry. -- grand ole opry. he is a man of great faith. we have attended breakfasts together for many years.

his favorite hymn is "the old rugged cross." i have enjoyed singing it with him a number of times. he is a scholar in the history of our country. senator byrd often cites our founding fathers and greek philosophers to remind us of where we've come from. he always carries a copy of the constitution in his pocket. mr. president, when i was a freshman senator in 1990, he generously helped me learn the ways of this great institution. i still have the notes he gave me on how to preside, always insisting that we follow the proper, time-tested procedures, and that we give our full attention to the senate floor. his years of masterful legislation have become such a consistent force in this lawmaker -- in this law-making

body that he has his own procedural budget rule named after him, the budget -- the byrd rule. senator byrd is an embodiment of the democratic spirit. we have looked to him for his steady leadership for so many years, and as our country faces new 21st century challenges, we years, and as our country faces new 21st century challenges, we are fortunate that we his wisdom today. it is a pleasure to serve with him. i again want to extend my congratulations to robert c. byrd for this amazing milestone. thank you for what you do for this institution, senator byrd. i look forward to the future together with you. god bless you, robert c. byrd. thank you, mr. president. i yield the time.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. hatch: mr. president, i'm privileged to stand here to say a few words about my friend, robert c. byrd. when i got here in 1976 -- i almost said 1776 -- but when i good here in 1976 -- and some people think i have been here since 1776 -- robert c. byrd was the majority leader in the senate. actually, it was 1977 when i actually took my seat here. and i have to say he was one of the finest majority leaders i have seen in all my 33 years in the united states senate. there was literally nobody who knew the rules as well as robert c. byrd. senator byrd was an expert on the rules, and he taught me a great deal. we were on opposite sides on the labor law reform debate, but it was a time of great learning for me as a young senator. he was very patient, very kind,

very decent to two young senators, senator lugar and myself who both came at exactly the same time. and i will never forget that. in the intervening years, i've seen this man play his fiddle and do it with such joy. i've seen him love his wifelike a man ought to love his wife. i've seen him be kind to his dog i've seen him be kind to numerous people. i've seen him go out of his way for all of us from time to time. and yet, there was no more formidable senator on the floor of this senate than senator byrd. as he has continuously through the years educated us on ancient history, modern history, the

constitution, anybody who has listened to those discussions and remarks on the floor has got to acknowledge this is one very, very bright and intelligent man. to think that he got his law degree, if i got this correctly, over the years as a u.s. senator while he was serving -- and i know he hardly ever missed a vote, but went on to law school and got a law degree while a sitting u.s. senator is pretty remarkable to me. i don't know anybody else in this body who could have done that. it's an amazing thing. he's gone out of his way to those of us who were younger in those years and who didn't know an awful lot about the procedural rules, didn't know a lot about the senate. he has been a stickler for the rules and making sure that the senate is always respected as

now we, the senators, respect him, not only for his knowledge of the rules but for the way that he has conducted himself all these years. i don't know of any other senator who has done as much for his state as senator byrd, unless it's senator stevens from alaska. and the two of them together have been towers of strength on the senate appropriations committee all these years. i've been amazed at the strength, the endurance, the intelligence, the absolute kindness and decency that senator byrd has been as he has evolved as a senator from those early days when not many people knew him to today, when all of us are honoring him. what an achievement to be the absolute leader in the history of the senate. so this is a very, very important day to senator byrd and to all of us.

i can truthfully say that i love him, respect him. we've had lots of differences over the years, but they have always been cordial. and i wish him the very, very best. and i hope that he has a long, substantial, and even more worthy life ahead of him. and he'll be in our prayers as one of the truly greatest leaders who has ever served in the united states senate. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i just say to my good friend from west virginia, i spoke -- i'll wait until senator hatch is through. i spoke this morning on this remarkable record of achievement. we're all proud of the -- of your service to your state and to our country: i sent you a note including my remarks this

morning about this remarkable record you have now achieved. and of course you broke the record of the senator from arizona, and one of his successors is here on the floor and would like to address that matter as well. mr. kyl: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. kyl: i thank the leader for yielding briefly. i prematurely congratulated senator byrd yesterday for breaking the record of carl hayden who has up till now held the record who was in the house of representatives until arizona became a state and served all the way until i believe it was 1968. senator byrd reminded me it is not until tomorrow at whatever hour it was. i said, well, i think you'll probably make it. and of course his response was "the lord willing." and that's been a motto of senator byrd, of course, throughout his career: the lord willing. we hope the lord is willing for many more days so the record will be

>> our guest is the director of the robert c. byrd center for studies in shepard town, west virginia. >> what is the purpose of the robert c. byrd center? >> this is a center that studies congress, the constitution.

we do research on the history of congress. right now, we're doing two big projects. one is a study of congressional investigation, and another is a documentary history of early petitions that came to the house of representatives in the senate, up to about 1817. in 2002, we started, so we have been in operation about seven years. >> what were you doing before that? >> the national constitution

center, the exhibits, including deep statues in the hall. before that, i was the historian of the house of representatives. it was on the campus of a fine college in the eastern panhandle of west virginia, 75 miles from d.c., with the potomac river rats at the door. -- right outside the door. there is the library here, scarborough library

it was paid for by grants from the federal government, as well as the state government. the entire project was an $18 million project to modernize the entire campus library, and that involved about $14 million in federal funds, and another $4 million in state funds. this really came from state money. >> when you look, you see the nuremberg hall. -- the emra byrd hall. it contains several projects that came through center.

's office, and one was a modern center named for mrs. byrd, a $10 million facility dedicated about two years ago. also on campus is the robert c. byrd science center. we dedicated that. >> byrd > has been there for a long time. >> i am not sure that security is an issue. in every state of the union you will see senior members of congress and people on other committees who have highways name for them, federal buildings. this is part of process, and some call it pork, others call

it well-placed money. >> this is a record for senator byrd. tell me. >> he has been in congress for so long in a leadership position. but this is a big one. november 18, he will become the longest serving member of congress ever. using his combined house and senate service. that is 27,770 days, 56 years and 10 months and 16 days, their butts. -- thereabouts. he has eclipsed everyone in terms of length of service.

he just passed carl hayden's records for house and senate service. and carl hayden, if he surpasses him by 11 days on november 18. >> his birthday is two. he has been sick recently. do you know what the current health condition is? >> he is doing fine right now. he does have an infection to get straightened out, but he has been giving speeches about afghanistan, cautioning the president about making it clear exactly what was there, and he has recently chair of common

security -- homeland security. his overall attendance record for over 50 years is 97.9%. >> nine terms. >> nobody has ever been elected to the senate nine terms. those are six-year terms. he is on his ninth term. >> it will seem obvious what your answer is, but is it a good idea for someone to still serve like this? >> a lot of members have served a great long time. members that i came across in my years as the historian, i like the senior members best, the ones that have been there for 30 or 40 years. they have an understanding of the institution.

they were steeped in the institution's sister -- history and government. so i think the people in the house, ultimately is a decision of the people elect um -- them. i think i have never been one for the term limits because they have the power to select or on is like presidents and senators. shepard university, because of the close proximity to washington d.c., it is an ideal spot for this senator and senator byrd's papers. so researchers would come out

here, at the capitol, at the archives. it makes for nice arrangement from where we're sitting right now. we have holiday staggers, a longtime member from west virginia, and we have those collections, and over amount of references to the collection in the all truck, and we fished those out of the bar. they were sitting at the bar,

and we save them and brought them to the center and helped fill out our collections. we had a three or four people now, workers opt in turns. )>> where is your budget, and wo pays for it? >> the budget is about three dozen dollars a year -- $300,000 a year, coming from an endowment we have. my boss is the chairman of the

education foundation, jerry stewart. he was chosen as a former secretary of the senate, a longtime friend and associate for senator byrd. we're not on the university payroll. >> to determine that there would be that senate, but would get the support run the country? did what -- what would get the support around the country? >> it is the association of

senators for the study of congress. about 40 institutional members and a number of individuals part of the organization. it is institutions like the center and oklahoma were carl was speaker. he was a speaker in 1950. i served under three speakers. tip o'neill, jim wright, but i was hired by a speaker o'neill. they have 30 or 40 or 50 other

collections, and some of the new ones are the baker center at the university of tennessee, knoxville, the bob dole institute for public policy, and a number of others. >> who determines that? is it just the leadership against funding for these things? because i looked at the status of the speaker's library3^b.

the funds are appropriated, usually to leaders. congress has never really figured out a good way to deal with this issue. just last year, the house passed a resolution saying about the papers, the private papers are very important historical documents, made to save and preserve or restore purposes. that was just a sense of congress that this was a good idea. it is usually some sort of a pairing.

we have all kinds of on-line services for teachers, people like bob michael's papers, and part of the website was funded by the michael curran foundation money, and went to o'neal established it, we went to the library for boston. one of the newest versions will come online is the ted kennedy center for the study of the senate, built adjacent to the jfk library.

we're interested in promoting a better understanding of congress using historical records to lay a foundation for good studies. so the official records of congress and committees by law go to the national archives. it is not anywhere near the presidential library budget, but there is a budget and a center for legislative archives that officially capes the records of the committees. but all the private papers, all of their personal correspondence, there is no provision made for that other than what could occasionally be found. sometimes they want these papers, and finally they got

them. they say, my gosh, we do not have the money for that. >> what would you say that somebody would look at this and say these facts sit here and have to be maintained and cost money, and what good is it for the public? >> it is understanding democracy, and these have been through a lot of the papers, and you see how the numbers work. how congress works.

it is the fundamental touch on for anybody in the history, and i am sure there is a lot of junk in the papers, because part of the&cdrocess we go through is to get rid of the old newspaper files, extra copies of the congressional record, and get down to those records. there is correspondence between major issues, and you see have the numbers interact with one another. one of the letters that came in recently as president reagan writing to senator byrd looking for immunity for poindexter and north in the eonkonkoma

hearings and investigation. and you see that level of information in which you might see some in the presidential libraries, but you will not see all of them. only a handful of people need to see the originals. when they are doing basic research. >> are you doing that now? >> yes. >> teleprocessing is it? >> it is a long process. we have 1,600 meters of microphone that will have to be digitized. we have to look at all of that. separate degrees of problems.

>> so what do have, and what do not have? >> we have had a good collection here, but not all of it. >> how close to this year do you have it, for instance? for instance, are you up to 2005? >> it is a process that most members use. in congress, we can move certain groups to their records, 200 or 300 boxes at a time. and we will go and have a truck and get them out of here. or sometimes the material comes directly to us.

so we're still a work in progress. senator byrd has been here three times or four times previously he gives speeches, and the two of us, it was a few years ago. >> you have been a story of the house of representatives for how many years? >> 12 years. >> were you the first to store in? >> yes, i'm the first historian in the house. it came as a result of the fact that the senate came

into the house in 1956 and established the office. as a result of that, the house wanted to establish a similar operation, but it was not until 1982 the bill came forward, and then it was defeated at the last minute. we have the idea we can be here long enough for the bicentennial congress six years later and it will be a temporary office. six years later, in 1989, the office was made permanent, and a lot of the objections made earlier went away.

>> you got a ph.d. from the university of maryland. you came out a historian. define that. what is a historian? >> a historian as somebody who recycle stories about the past. i always like the phrase that cicero said, in history, you're always a child. i discovered history as an undergraduate, and it was the civil-rights movement that got me excited. i wanted to know more about the

whole history. i want to know how things came about, and i never get tired of it. >> are there things in the past that have triggered your interest? >> yes, i had a professor in college who was absolute dynamite, and he taught without using a text book. he taught by using documents. we read the material and discussed it. his name was dale chapman. i went back and give a talk about how he was in my development as a historian.

he would expect us to get into british history and u.s. history, medieval documents. in trying to fit into the language of them and understand them, you talk about the contacts. so he would provide it and expect us to get something out of the document. it was not some authority in the textbook telling you what to think. you are doing these things yourself.

i teach u.s. survey and public history, and i also teach u.s. reconstruction history. those are the courses are usually teach. reconstruction is the first half of american history, to the civil war, and the civil war up to the present. i like to use documents. i like to use reading books that i)have authentic voices and let them tell their stories. i have always been a documentary editor. i worked on the book to washington papers for and african american leader and educator, booker t. washington. >> i have a book year, black

leadership in the age of jim crow. how did you interested in booker t. washington? where was that moment? >> actually, that goes back to when i was about eight years old and my elbow, a truck driver, came to visit and presented me with an odd colin. it was commemoratives, from 1946. it showed booker t. washington on one side and a slim cavan -- slave cabin on the other side. i was a budding coin collector at the time, so i took it to school for show and tell. so that is one of the first historical presentations i ever made, on booker t. washington, but it was many years before,

when i was one of the top scholars on the order to washington. and a seminal book had just been published. so that is what i studied under him, and i went to graduate school and by coincidence, my first day at the campus i met louis holland, it was just beginning a study of booker t. washington and was about to launch. i worked with him for many, many years, and we won the pulitzer prize in 2004 based on his biography. >> the atlanta compromise speech. in order to get to that, the

u.s. some brief background on who booker t. washington was, when did he live, and obviously the story of how he started. >> agree to washington was going a slave in 1856 on a small farm in virginia, and he was freed in 1865 when the civil war was over. he then moved to west virginia with his family, where even as a young boy, he was a laborer in the salt industry. this was a big salt industry. so he worked as a child, as a child laborer, and had a tremendous drive to learn to read and read and write. as many did. you have slaves, and in most

places it was against the law to teach him to read and write. so the desire to learn how to read the bible was very strong. so a lot of schools thought that he was very good at that. and he later went with the hampton institute down in north folk -- north took -- norfolk. at the age of 25, he went off to alabama to start a school. there were no buildings, notebooks, nothing. so he started from scratch and brought in at tuskegee institute in that region, and he became a famous educator, but he was also a politician and an

advisor on republican matters to several republican presidents, including theodore roosevelt. >> the story of the speech. how did it happen? and there was a fragment in the process before we get to the other line of speech which got our attention for some reason. build up to that. >> to was a good orator. but he really wanted to reach the white crowds with his message. so he was given an opportunity one time up in boston, and he got on the train, went back to alabama, and a speech that lasted two diplomats. he got on the next train back.

he talks about how he traveled on thousand miles to give a two- minute speech. the speech itself, we do not have. we piece together his message from those newspaper accounts. his speech in atlantatlanta, toward her, was the speech that established him as a natural -- in atlanta, torture, was the speech that established him as a national figure. the speaking was opened in 1881, so he had been at that 14 years -- tuskegee, and he was building a reputation. he was frequently going to the north, raising money. he was on the road much of the

time, raising money for school. he never knew who his father was. we are guessing it was probably one of the young men on a nearby farm, but we do not know. he never knew anything about his father. but he was interested in that. his mother was a slave. it was a small make ends meet kind of farm. the racial climate in the country was deteriorating.

more and more states legalized and implemented what they call jim-crow lines. they are writing constitutions to keep blacks from voting. they are openly white supremacists who argued to make sure the white man stays on top. until they separated, it would

be some place you might not want to be any how. what could go anywhere. the blacks could not go anywhere. >> in 1893, chicago had this great world's fair. so they created this fair, they had a separate negro building for exhibitions from tuskegee and other black schools in the south. it would be segregated, but on display.

the other question is, do you have a black man speak to a wide audience? -- white audience? booker t. washington was invited by the trustees of the fair. they wanted to give the opening ceremony at the negro building. it was high drama. a black man was going to speak to a largely white audience, and there was a separate jim crow section, blacks in the audience, segregated. he was well known throughout the south and in the north as a leader and educator of african- americans. he was basically a -- he

believed that education was the key to success and that african- americans needed to basically get their jobs in the trades, something of an industrial education idea. >> where was w.e.b. dubois? >> at the time of the address, he thought was a good idea. his opposition came several years later. at the time with the atlanta address, the person who had become his chief critic among african-americans wrote him a letter and said this is what we have spoken. he praised washington. >> is that speech written down? >> yes.

we have the original at tuskegee. it is not a complete speech. he did not use any notes. he had memorized it. what he did was in this atmosphere, racial segregation, he got up and said he would offer a compromise with the south, that african-americans would not advocate for civil rights or social equality. he raised his hand and said all things relate to social life, but all things are essential for mutual progress. so basically, he was saying, give us a chance for an education and decent jobs, and we will not worry about civil- rights and social equality

sitting next to us at an opera house. it is not important, office wise. people just ignore the success of this thing. it was bedlam. he had tried to find a balancing act between the racism of the south and the need for social and political and economic advancement in the north. he had his critics in the beginning, but by 1900, five years later, and certainly by 19 03, when the voice led his magnificent condemnation of

booker t. washington for giving away too much, and then there were other groups later. the niagara movement, and the founding of the naacp. washington state, for the rest of his life. by the time the civil rights movement came along in the 1960's, people said booker t. washington is an all-time -- uncle tom who would not advocate for civil rights. >> you sent a picture of them being on the campus of tuskegee. they would come to the school,

and even though they virulently disagreed, the gavel on. -- they got along. >> washington tried to hire him to come to tuskegee. and washington's third wife was a friend from their school days. so they, it was part of the family that was a friendship. there were political rivals. they would never be complete enemies. if they had lived another 50 years. he kept the divisional live. i think they really did represents two complete the divergent views.

we have to have political rights, or we're not going to get anywhere. >> keep married three different women, and all three came from tuskegee. >> his first wife was a high- school streesuite art from west virginia. he married her in west virginia, and she came down and was a faculty member. then she died shortly thereafter in an accident. it is confusing which she died of, but she passed away from internal injuries outperform have a wagon -- after falling off all wagon -- a wagon. she came to tuskegee from ohio

and became the principal. now that washington out lived booker t. washington. >> you have a project investigating the investigations of congress. >> yes. after a five-volume study of congressional investigations, what they hit was putting together scholarly essays, documents, and bibliography. we were asked here to do a new edition of that in two volumes.

the facts on file i asked -- facts on file asked. it came to me. luckily, i was able to get my good friend, roger, deputy director of the national historical publications and records division for the archives, roger came back on, and david, also one of the editors. >> what is the time frame on this? >> we start with 1792, the first congressional investigation. and we go all the way up to katrina's investigation of what happened after. i think what we found this how important congressional investigations are, and the

power of congress to investigate as been crucial at various times in our history. also, we see in recent times as congress has not used this power very effectively. all of its investigations and hearings are window dressing. they seem to be more politically motivated and not really a thorough investigation. >> right now, the democrats controlled congress. they have control white house, they investigated it in power? or does it take a different political scenario? >> the trouble in modern times is it the president is of a different party, congress is more likely to investigate.

that is hard to say as a generality. we have different individual investigations. during this year, there were very few investigations, even though congress and the presidency were in the same hands. >> but starting 2006, there were a lot more investigations after the democrats took control. >> but none of them have really gone very far. i do not know. it seems to me that one of president obama's goals was to look forward, not backward.

suddenly they started ripping into president bush over the start of the war, and how we got into iraq, and all the various lies and misleading information. >> so what have you learned so far? >> i have learned about how powerful the investigation process can be. >> the have one in mind more powerful than others? >> what of the most interesting in some ways is harry truman invest in the defense industry during world war two. and getting away with that. here he is. he is a democrat in the senate.

he is investigating of franklin roosevelt's activities and spending in the war, talking to defense contractors, saving the country billions of dollars. also, saving lives of americans and airmen who were flying in airplanes and the wings were falling off, and they would burn are in -- bring in somebody like curtis and say they were building them to specifications, and truman say, well, the specs are wrong if the wings are falling off, don't you think? even the party will take on how these wars were conducted. so it is like we are off limits,

almost. >> we did pay a lot of attention to humves, though, things like that. >> yes, we did. the question about it. but in terms of looking at the low-bid contracts, no, we have not touched that. this will be published next spring, in two volumes. it is called "congress investigates," and facts on file will be publisher. >> will it be expensive? >> i am not sure. it is designed for library reference. >> put this in perspective. you go back and read about the longest serving its speaker in

history, 17 years, and you find that he literally would not take anything from anybody. he would not even take a free plane ride he was going somewhere, he would not take a free meal. it looks like he was either the end of a year or the beginning of an era. what happened from that kind of speaker to what happened later on when you have airplanes put aside for speakers and that kind of stuff? what changed? >> i am not sure. sam rayburn was legendary for being scrupulous about money. she took a tour of the panama canal one time on his own dollar. and i like to observe money numbers myself. i have seen them in history.

some people have a good moral compass about these things and they stick to it. i think the senator is in that category. but the pattern shifts. . . they're flying around and -- in jets and so on. in order to be that, they're supposed to be watching for their stockholders. society, it seems is changing.

money's influence is everything. it is the new media, and the new way we look at politics. >> what was your last year as historian of the house of representatives? >> january of 1995. while i was there, i kept a journal. about 2000 single spaced pages. i kept a record of things that i saw, things that i was doing. we were celebrating the bicentennial of the united states congress. we were interacting with all kinds of folks at the supreme court and in congress. i was part of the speaker's office. i had a bird's-eye view of what was going on. i was on the floor for all kinds of interesting things, the state of the union speeches.

i am not sure if that is a story in an of itself and i can publish it as a journal, or if i were to simply write a different kind of story. >> what about the history of your firing? i know that that is harsh language. but you were let go by republican speaker newt gingrich after serving three democratic camps. >> the republican takeover of the house in 1994, 95 when an awful lot of people changed. it is not surprising. it is the first time in 40 years the republicans have been in the majority of the house. they were euphoric. and all kinds of reasons to celebrate that they were not in the minority for the first time in their lifetime for a lot of these members.

in the minority of their whole careers. it is not surprising that a lot of folks were fired. in a sense, i was part of the speaker's office. i was one of the first that could be fired under the rules of the house. newt gingrich wanted to bring his own person in. i was let go. i did not know that until december 17. two weeks later, i was gone. >> who told you. -- you? >> a letter from the house administration committee. it wasn't even signed. it said that after january 4, your services will no longer be necessary. it was like a formal letter. >> did you expect it? >> we sort of expected it, but we did not know for sure until december. the republican transition group

interviewed everybody. partly to find out what they were doing and why they were there. the last thing that the republican transition team asked me to do was to prepare a memo on how to run a history office if i was to -- they said, set up as if you think -- what should be in the history office? i prepared the memo, and it was basically the last thing i was asked to do. >> what is the current status of the historian of the house? >> it took several years that the person he hired was fired a week later because she got into trouble with the press. christina jeffrey -- christine

jeffrey. newt didn't want that. it stayed empty for a long time. the house clerk began to take on some of those services with some of his folks, and during denny hastert's -- hired the distinguished historian, a scholar of jackson that would play the early theperiod. -- the early national period. he would write the history, but was appointed historian about the time the book was completed. he remains house historian to this day. he is not there very often, as i understand.

in the meantime, the house has created wonderful office of history and preservation, headed by elliot that you have had on c-span from time to time. she is the curator, there is the archivist. there is a first-class historian and writer. they have a very nice office. they're doing a lot of the things at my office was doing. i am happy to see that the house has paid attention to its history. >> last quesiton. how long -- question. how long will you keep doing this? >> as long as i can. i have a few more books in a trade and might take up what you suggest and to do something about my years as house historian.

i also thank my publisher that did the booker t. washington book. they have been talking about doing a book about how politics has changed in the 24/7 news cycle. the ones that you from a historian. i want to take a look at that, because i think it is really important how partisanship has become so strong, fueled by the 24 our feet -- 24 hour cable process. whether you're listening to the left or right, they jump on each other. that has a detrimental effect on politics. i recently listened to a

wonderful lecture on the book on franklin roosevelt. he talked about changes in the news media. everything is moving to talk tv. fox news is just talk, talk, talk. in this nbc is talk, talk, talk. -- msnbc is talk, talk, talk. talk is cheap, investigative reporting is expensive. >> thank you very much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> for a dvd copy of this program, call the number on your screen. for free transcripts or give us comments on the program, visit us at qanda.org.

>> next on c-span, the portrait unveiling for former senator trent lott and the u.s. capitol. at 8:00 eastern, interviews with supreme court justices antonin scalia and ruth later ginsburg -- bader ginsburg. >> later on c-span, a look ahead at the future with vladimir prudent and his call-in show. -- putin and his call-in show. the creator avi segway and co- creator of guitar hero.

>> mr. lott was joined by former president bill clinton, former house speaker newt gingrich, and senate majority leader harry reid. this is 50 minutes. >> i welcome everybody to the united states senate. president clinton, it is real good to see you, of course. speaker gingrich. leader mcconnell. we welcome senator lott and a lot family. i miss having trapped -- trent in the senate. [laughter] of course, i would miss him a lot more if he stayed a democrat. when the son of a shipyard worker and a schoolteacher first came to washington, he came as a congressman that he would

ultimately succeed. i have never met anyone in congress that was easier to work with. he was always pragmatic and very pleasant. senator-will told me a long time ago, -- daschle told me along time ago that senator lott is a pleasure to work with. it has been that way since this body convened so many years ago, and will stay that way when we move down all. because trent lott tried to keep us focused, we were able to move legislation. his constituents but preceded him, and certainly his colleagues did. one doesn't get chosen from the senate majority leader and the senate minority leader without

knowing how to work well. he would say in the book that he wrote, without [unintelligible] i do miss trent lott in the senate. we will have his portrait to keep his likeness here. congratulations to him. [applause] when i learned a few minutes ago that i was going to introduce new gingrich, i thought to myself, well, it reminds me of when i was in the house. on the foreign affairs committee. we had, before us, the famous secretary of state. they were conducting the meeting, and he was saying, i

don't know how referred to. -- how to refer to you. mr? doctor? ambassador? secretary? he looked up and said, your excellency will be just fine. [laughter] newt gingrich. . mister? -- newt gingrich, is it mrister? professor? doctor? i believe we will go with speaker. newt gingrich. [applause] >> thank you very much, senator reid. we go back to the house a long time ago, working together in a somewhat different body. i am glad to be here, the sort of offering you could not turn down.

trent called me out of the blue and said, hey, you are coming. i said, yes, sir. i will be here with president clinton and it became absolutely unavoidable. [laughter] the the thing i want to say about trent and about the institution, we go all the way back to the 1970's when i was first running. he was a young congressperson. he had been a democratic staffer on the rules committee. he understood the rules of the house, the exquisite thoroughness. he had a remarkable ability to think strategically to understand all of the legislative possibilities. he rose to be the ranking member on the rules committee and the republican whip, the second ranking member of the house of the republican side. and over here to what we refer to as the other body, and mystical moments that most of his friends did not understand.

he came over here and acquired the same tenacious ability to master two very different things. the rules of this institution, at the intricate balance of personality that makes the senate on like any other institution. he rose and became one of the leading figures of the senate. he has a remarkable knack for making friends and believing passionately. but with a great deal of help from his life, fully enjoying his family and keeping things in perspective. he is a remarkable person. coming over to this room, i was also reminded of the extraordinary importance. i say this with some reluctance as a house speaker. this is an institution whose belief in the long term history of freedom of captured by senator byrd and is a remarkable

history, an institution whose understanding at the importance of each foundation that freedom sustained on. an institution with a remarkable fashion or honoring the past and building the future. and finding ways to remain collegial in the present. a remarkable part of what -- why america has remained free for 225 years. and for trent lott as a person. his portrait will be here. he is part of that continuity. part of that history. the tradition of trent lott, weaving together the impossible. it is appropriate that i get to do this with president clinton. the three of us are very similar. we came out of nowhere. we had no plausible reason to get here. when we got here, we were

slightly confused at the experience. we could not believe either of the other two were here. [laughter] [applause] a book came out recently about the degree to which president clinton and i worked together on a series of very large reforms that tragically could not occur on medicare, social security. what we did achieve as reforming welfare, balancing the budget, cutting taxes, rethinking medicare, and enabling us to look out for a quarter-century of national security. it was remarkable. coming from me, this is saying a lot. being a president is controversial. i was sometimes controversial. he shook his head and wonder why we wish to sell much time on controversy when we could get

some and more things done -- why we wasted so much time on controversy. it is a great honor to introduce president william jefferson clinton. [applause] thank you -- >> thank you very much. thank you. thank you very much. mr. speaker, senator lott, mrs. lott, members of the family, senator reid, senator mcconnell. i am still wondering what i am doing here. [laughter] actually, for the first time in my life, i found myself agreeing with most of withnewt said. -- most of what newt said.

i was told that thomas jefferson was elected president in that room back there. i reminded trend that if it had not been for thomas jefferson, and neither one of us would be here. it because he bought louisiana. arkansas and mississippi were part of it. he probably wishes they still were. [laughter] i like to be here with all these republicans, because i am a private citizen. i don't have to convince you of anything. [laughter] the great thing about not being in office is that you can say whatever you want. witness my notes. but nobody cares anymore. [laughter] i would like to say a couple of things seriously. we were laughing back there about how people get all exercised a around here.

my party is understandably exercised, whether the president is born in america, the death panel business. i was inewt -- kidding newt, accusing me of being an enemy of normal americans. [laughter] -- normal america. looking in the land lost money on, he thought i was cricket and stupid. -- crooked and stupid. [laughter] i resented the stupid more than a cricket -- than the crooked. the worst thing he said was that i was a spoiled brat. [laughter] he was on a sunday morning talk show, and i told him that i was not upset. he said, that is good. i said, i wanted to know why.

i know you. you worked hard all week. he stayed out of on saturday night. you woke up sunday morning with a headache, and you were kicking yourself you agreed to do one of those done talk shows. you were in bad humor, and you took the bait. he said, that is exactly what happened. [laughter] first of all, by way of history, if you think this stuff that is going on now was rough, i urge you to go to the library and check out a copy -- he wrote it in the middle of the second century a.d. when the parchment was still available of the roman senate. what cicero said about julius caesar is far worse than anything any of us then and any of you now have said about anybody else. i say that to make his point. someone once said that we

campaign in poetry, but we govern in prose. the pros matters more, but the poetry is sometimes more interesting. when you're doing the prose, the liberals are always pushing the limits of what is possible. the best conservatives are open to change, but no one to draw the line -- know when to draw the line. in poetry, the more effective it is in the short run. i want to amplify some things that newt gingrich said, because they're important. trent lott was a good leader. he got a lot done. he became majority leader in 1996. i want to run through the record. that is what really matters -- matters. he showed up after two vetoes

and i signed the welfare reform law that led to a 60% reduction in welfare. it was part of a reduction in poverty, more than 7 million. that is 100 times as many people the move from poverty the middle class and the previous 12 years. it was a good bill. it had a conservative requirement that people that can work should work. it had liberal support for transportation, housing, medicine, food. it worked. then, we had the balanced budget amendment. it balanced the budget for the first time since 1969. that itself was sort of an aberration. we paid six and a billion dollars down on the national debt. -- $600 billion down on the national debt. the biggest expansion of health care since medicaid.

now more than 10 million children are getting health care. because of congress's act. then, the senate ratify the chemical weapons convention. i never told senator lott this, but we watched the ratification debate and vote that would not have passed without you, and you know it. i watched it with the prime minister of japan. hashimoto kept talking to me about how the people of japan had just been victimized by their first terrorist attack that was a chemical weapons attack. and how profoundly grateful he was to the united states for taking a stand against the proliferation of those agents. we had the biggest increase in education funding in 30 years. 1.3 million people and after-

school programs. the fund at 3000 charter schools. 2000 -- we funded 3000 charter schools. there was exactly one in the united states in the state of minnesota. only two states that authorize them. then when everybody thought we were out of gas, we had the biggest increase in higher education in 50 years with a lot of middle-class tax cuts, including the hopes color should tax cuts for people to go to community colleges, a graduate work. at the very end, we passed the market initiative to get people to invest in places like the areas of mississippi and arkansas, new york, everywhere else. to take the power zone concept national.

i say this because if you ask anybody what they remember about the almost five years that trent lott was a majority leader when i was president, they might mention the balanced budget act and not anything else. i came here because i like him, we have a lot of good times together. the world would be amazed to know what good chemistry trent, newt, and i had in private. they put on better public acts that i did, but privately, we all got along real well. sometimes the infection takes longer than others. even dick armey said something nice about the other day and i almost had another heart attack. [applause] -- [laughter] when it is all said and done, all the matters is whether

people are better off after you. whether the country is coming together or drifting apart. and whether our kids and grandkids have a brighter future. on that score, my friend, you did pretty well. senator lott. [applause] >> before i give the microphone, i was charged with a solemn duty to say one other thing. i am here speaking for two people in my family. after you and hillary got off to a rough start, she said that she never liked you doing anything

more than working with you on katrina. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much, president clinton. thank you all for being here. it is a very emotional and special occasion for me. i am honored by your presence. i am so appreciative of the fact that i can have my family here, the children, grandchildren. supporters, former colleagues. i could tell a story about almost everyone of you. things we did together. i look at susan collins, and she would go the other way when she would see me coming. [laughter] i want you all the know that i am appreciative of the fact that

you're here. thank you, harry reid. we would not hear it -- we would not be here without the art advisory board. they did such a great job. did i get it right? sorry, diane. all under the direction of the majority leader, harry reid. we go back a long way, back to the house. when we came to the senate, i wound up being majority leader and he was the whip. 100 amendments would appear for a bill, miraculously. usually 100. i would go to harry that was working with tom daschle, ken lanier this down a little bit? -- tan lee narrow this down a little bit? in a few hours -- can we narrow this down a little bit?

in a few hours, we would get a product. he would work the floor, and have the confidence from tom daschle. at the time that you were the with and i was the leader -- toward the end of my time here, we wound up on one vote in 2007, we are in the well. john collins is down there. i want to mention the bill, because it might cause a little stir -- i won't mention the bill, because it might cause a little stir. finally, carey said it, i don't think we will make it. his troops were going at one or, our troops were going out the other. there we stood, the two leaders of the parties working together and losing. [laughter] one of my less fond memories,

but i appreciate it because we were there together, shoulder to shoulder, doing what we thought was right. of course, mitch mcconnell, my friend. he lives in kentucky. [unintelligible] i learned over the years that the leadership needed a little extra input. judd gregg, mitch filling that role. thinking strategically. i just have such tremendous respect for him. i admire what you're doing now.

the minority leader, i know the majority leader is much better. keep thinking positively, match. and be nice, harry. [laughter] let me say how much i appreciate the artist. steve, where are you? they're your. i thought you were going to be on the end. stand up. [applause] i actually have not seen the finished product. he was surprised at that. i said -- he asked why not, i said, what can i do now? i only had one request. make me look better than i actually do. somebody observed the twinkle in my eye was not there. trisha took that out. [laughter] i think he did a great job.

i did not realize what a long and detailed evolutionary process -- i thought he would take a few shots and there would be. -- there i would be. i appreciate what you have done. i appreciate the work they didn't -- that you did. there really make that -- make this a special occasion. we had these portrait unveilings for tom daschle. i appreciated his call explaining why he would not be here. have we served in a time that he described as a time like no other. we did not really know each other that well, but we developed a bond. when you bleed together, you bond together.

then there was 9/11 and the amtracs problem. through it all -- and the anthrax problem. you can be adversaries legislatively, but develop a real friendship. thank you, linda, for being here. and thank you, steven, for all you have done. former staff members, we did not realize how many there were. we only invited my staff members from the senate. i did have position of secretary of the senate and with on a couple of occasions. there was a lot of staff over those years. they are the people that make the senators look good on occasion and do good things for people observing, helping me get a lot of projects and a good deserving earmark projects. [laughter] those were not poor, they were south of memphis.

-- pork, they were southo f memp -- south of memphis. i have my chief of staff in the room. the only job tougher than the one that tricia had. i have colleagues on both sides of the capital, both sides of the aisle. the leader when i was with in the house, a great guy. [applause] livingston, for one moment in history, a brief time, the epicenter of the political world in the united states was the river between mississippi and louisiana. bob and i talked about that. is leader boehner here? i'm sure they have more work to

do, better than what they did yesterday. [laughter] i don't know if bob dole is here and elizabeth, but thank you to my colleagues for being here. and elizabeth? thank you for being there. dianne feinstein, chris dodd, i appreciate you. my colleagues from mississippi, i did not know they had to be white hair -- and had have white-haired be a senator from mississippi. [laughter] my dad always accuse me of putting something on my here anyway. you mentioned hillary, my colleague. i see chuck schumer sitting back there. after 9/11, we went to new york. we are all new yorkers, and we're going to do our part. we will do what it takes to make new york city recover.

it was way over the top, but i said, it sounded like a good idea to me. we got it done. he knows what i am talking about. [laughter] sometimes, it is better you don't know the details. but then, after katrina, in many ways our hearts were broken. it was such a devastating experience. we lost our home. it was tough to go down there and see what happened. we were working on appropriations, getting work done. i learned that from john stennis ion. he let me take credit for stuff. we were supposed to move an entire railroad off the coast, up north of interstate 10. it was a small amount of money

as i recall, but my republican colleagues suffered a little bit under the weight of the cost and the idea that we're going to have federal funds on this railroad. john warner probably voted for it. at any rate, and got to be very close. we were putting together one of the unholy alliance is that you have to do. chuck schumer voted with this. senator clinton voted with us. we won by 1 vote. that is really all you need. [laughter] there is no need in squandering extra votes. you might need them next time. when hillary was leaving the chamber, i was standing in the well and i reached over and said, thinking for the vote. she stopped and said, you were one of us after 9/11.

those are the moments that you remember forever. i can mention each one of you. i have such fond memories of my experience here. we had ups and downs. i've made my mistakes. it was a tremendous experience. i really enjoyed every moment. i was thinking today, if you were still in the senate, ted kennedy would be here today. he was always good of coming to these events, portraits of republicans and democrats. i wrote him a handwritten note one time that i intended for him to burn and said, thank you for the courtesies over the years. if the world only new. what i did not know is that he framed and hung it on his wall. you develop these friendships and these relationships. he would go to the floor and

roar like a lion he was. we would respond in kind, and we would go back and say, how did i do? it eviscerated you. there is another note here, my colleague and a buddy from louisiana. it is very natural and the private sector, we were to gather some many times in the house and senate. he would say, get over across the aisle and see what you can round up. he was one of those allies tried to go to and could not find the sweet spot between the two parties. he came to the senate, same thing. in the house, particularly, he would get in the center aisle. nervousness broke out all over the place. the riverboat gamblers are added again. they're going to cut another deal. he had a feel for sort of where the modern gist of it was.

i had a feel for where the republicans were. he made me mad a few times. he cost us a couple hundred million dollars on a tax bill. [unintelligible] we had to get it done. he acted like they did not have the votes until i figured out we did have olympia. [laughter] at which point, we quit negotiating. you gotta have that. thank you for the memories and things that we did that were good for the country. before i talk more about our special guest here today, i have to say special thanks for my family and all that they have gone through over the years. to my son, chet. a great musician and a great guy. thank god he looks like his mother.

and our daughter that works with the chamber of commerce, they were always the light of my life. they were great children, and even greater adults and parents. i appreciate your love and support over these years. and of course, to the grandchildren. they're the ones that make me smile the most. i have been known to say on many occasions, i am the happiest two times. i am heading to an old football week in the growth, and when i am going anywhere to see my grandchildren. and the one that is asleep on the front row, addison. you make life worthwhile at this age. and your what i am working for in the future. and there is pressure. no senator i believe could possibly have had a more loving

and supportive wife and helpmate than tricia. i had my idiosyncrasies. a liberal democrat from the very beginning, i work all these years to bring him around. he knows that she put up a lot. time away, financial sacrifices. she was always there in the house and senate, part of the international group. he did not come to the spouse's clubs very much when hillary was in the senate. [laughter] she just has always been there. she is the one that arranged this event. [applause] thank you, darling.

thank you. it is not easy being lott's wife. [laughter] but she has always been the wind beneath my wings, i guarantee you that. our beloved old mess, he knows that is true. i have always been a little worried about that. but thank you, tricia. let me talk about president clinton. thank you for being here. he did not hesitate. i called him. yesterday he was meeting with president obama. he is working on international organizations. he will do events that he thinks are important, republican, democrat -- when you leave these offices, you remember the good things. you forgive all of the little

slights. respect grows. one day, your friends. partisanship, you forget a lot of that. we have great stories we can tell. one of the reasons i think we got along so well, and why we got along better than people realize, is because we never lost our ability to talk. if we did or said something stupid, excuse me, mr. president -- the main thing, we would call one or the other and laugh about it. he had that southern sense of humor. even the last week he was president, jim will remember this. he went into the majority leader post office and had to go the bathroom. he was waiting for the symbolic swearing-in. he told jim ziegler they had to go to the restroom. i had a lot of cartoons on the walls, and they were all about president clinton.

[laughter] you know what? he said, those are pretty good. i think i got some better than that. how about i send you one? send it over, mr. president. he is in his last week. a couple of days later, here it comes. a great cartoon. signed by the president of the united sites. -- states. i had a great laugh. there were six different pieces. basically, the republicans had called him and put him in a straitjacket in all with an elephant on top of the whole. finally, the last frame, it said, i think you got him this time. [laughter] we did a lot of great things together. the things mentioned, and i was

proud of the balanced budget. we did other things that we don't always remember life saved drinking water. the kennedy bill, a list of things that we found a way to come together. we were sort of the triangle. newt was part of that, too. even though we had differences, we found a way to come together. i always admired the job that newt did in the house. that is a job that bob, mike, and i always wanted. now, here they are. they're working for the good of the country and the good of the world. they're always thinking about where we have an and where we need to go. no politicians know more about history. he was talking about caesar, cicero, and rice his freedom to

come out differently. -- rewrites history to make it come out differently. [laughter] it would be a good time for us to show that the president, speaker, leaders can find a way to come together. i will conclude with two brief points of personal privilege. i promise i will be brief because i have spoken too long. number one, my colleagues in the senate and in the house, remember your families. try remember to make a family friendly place. i used to complain that when the sun started to go down, we should go down and -- go home and have dinner with our families. the people negotiating were gone, we could not find them. they were somewhere, but not on the floor. always make a point to think of the loved ones that you see here.

if you do that, they will be happier because of it and the country will be the beneficiary of it. it is easy to say, i know it is hard to do for leaders. you have to give unanimous consent. i believe it would make a great difference. the other thing, if you're looking for results for the country, you can start off in the extremes. usually, there is common ground that you can find that will be good for the country. i used to say, tom, if we can find a way to get this done, there'll be plenty of benefit to go around for both parties and the senators involved. you have three good old boys from the south, like the ones you have had today. find a way to get that common ground. i know that the outstanding

leaders that we have in the congress, the house and the senate now will get it done. i wish you the very best as you try to do that. and we will trying to turn this over to the successors, a majority leader. [applause] >> it is my honor to join some many distinguished public servants here, colleagues in the senate and the house. former colleagues of trent lott as his former port -- formal portrait will be unveiled shortly.

they will hang the portrait in the republican leader's office, and i welcome you to come by and look at it again. what an honor for you, trent. it was a period in the late 1990's, learning of your personal affection for each other. as others have indicated, these political battles kind of fade with the passage of time. the attack, or traded did a pretty good job of hiding it from the rest of us. anyone who has ever known trent lott admires his skills as a politician, and his virtues as a man.

today, we honor both. his leadership skills developed early on. his seniors at his high-school, class of 1959 not only voted trent senior class president, but most likely to succeed. most popular. the model of kristian conduct. -- christian conduct. the neatest, most polite, all the things that most americans associate with politicians. [laughter] [applause] he put those qualities to the test at the age of 32 when he got elected to congress as a republican in a district for more than nine out of the 10

registered voters were democrats. he did it in the same way he did everything. boundless enthusiasm, and with conviction that with little effort, he could bring just about anybody around to his point of view. later on as house whip, he inspired his colleagues with the same enthusiasm, hard work, and a determination to win, even in the face of tough odds. and as we all remember, enjoying himself in the process. tranche may be remembered mostly as a senator, but he made his name in the house first, setting up the historic operation that cleared the way for some of the biggest legislative victories of the reagan era and laid a foundation for the republican majority in the years to follow. he earned the respect of his senate colleagues, showing the

same qualities that he had shown in the house. along with equal measures of patience, persistence, and persuasion -- lyndon johnson once called that the only power available. it did not happen right away. when he first moved to the upper chamber, he frankly did not care much for. he did not like the pace of action. he did not think he fit in. and worst of all, for a guy that arranges his stock for bicolor -- sock drawer by color, he thought was completely disorganized. he wrote a list of things he would change if he ever got the chance. a few years later, he did. he was elected by his colleagues to the senate leadership team and quickly worked his way to the top, culminating in 6.5

years of distinguished service. throughout his years in the senate, he was careful to note that some occasions were historic and not political there was the leaders lecture series at the time of heightened political polarization bipartisan events like this held a non-political setting, here in the old senate chamber. it was an important reminder of stores, --stewards, it was as we leave it. the first person ever to serve as wic in both houses of congress -- whip in both housees of concress, -- congress, and i guarantee you this. no other party leader in history ever showed up to historyin a kilt.

-- showed up to work in a kilt. he has done it all with a spring in his step and a song on his lips. from 1972 until this very day, one thing has been constant in the life and work of trent lott. her name is richard. she has already been given -- and given the recognition that she richly deserves. he could never understand why others could not finish their work on time and get on to their families -- home to their families. he succeeded at both. congratulations, trend. this is a wonderful day for you and your family. i hope that the family will come

forward and have a chance to look at this fabulous portrait that has been painted. >> we lost one, she is sound asleep. [inaudible] [laughter] [applause]

>> [inaudible conversations]