and bring the man. we are of 42 states, 44,000 kids, and that has to grow for every day of obvious reasons. so it is up to you. >> we have a couple minutes. otherwise, it is almost lunchtime. i will be signing books if you want to that. if there are any questions, would like to hear from you. .

[applause] >> [inaudible] >> there were a lot of seemingly over early christians. . overtly christians.

look, facts are facts. history is history. as my old friend used to say, how exactly are we supposed to explain the following? we hold these truths to be self- evident, that all men are created equally endowed endowed by their creator. but-you can put in a blank, but it is there, and it is a country founded on judeo-christian principles. if you want a fancy way to do that, you can quote that american civil liberties -- that is cocktail party stuff.

that is what they thought, and that is what they believe. because they believed that all men are created equal, that men, women, and children had souls, they believed they should be protected, because they were creatures of god and were entitled to such protection. that is simply a fact of life. when washington writes a letter to the hebrew congregation of newport, he says is this the first time that will find true religious freedom and not be harassed and ridden out of town. washington rights so that you may enjoy the blessings of liberty and be not afraid.

wax [inaudible] >> mia aware of other presidents who have gone to foreign nations -- am i aware of other presidents who have gone to foreign nations and apologize for our country? i think it is not the most consequential thing he has done, but i think it is the worst thing he has done. [applause] the president also somewhat misunderstands his job. the job is not about him. he represents the people of the united states.

to go to europe and apologize is a very strange thing to do, since time after time after time, it is american men and uniform -- american men in uniform who have liberated europe time after time after time. now our good friends in poland, the czech republic, are wondering what is up. this is not a smart gambit. this is not a sophisticated political philosophy. this is appeasement, and we will pay a price for it. >> [inaudible] >> i cannot comment on the jennings duncan agenda. he said he wanted to see me. i will wait until he calls.

i am sure he will call. one of the things we are going to do, we have these podcast were we talked to students around the country. we will do so periodically over the school year. we have one coming up this fall. if they want to talk to him, and their teachers and parents want them to. if we were to add one more person to mount rushmore right now, who would it be? that is a hard one, isn't it? think about that one. that is your assignment. we are going to talk about it with the kids. that is a good thing to talk about. you have to back up your answer and say why. >> [inaudible]

>> are we going to work on an elementary edition? yes, we are, and a middle school edition. we think this would be a good one to start with. this would be a good college level textbook. it is actually being used at some community colleges and state colleges. how can we get the textbooks to the public schools? talk to mr. bollinger. it is a tough political business, which makes it great -- makes it very appetizing for me to get involved in. we are doing our best. we talk to teachers and school board members.

quite apart from the politics of history education, the whole world knows these books are boring. these 25 lb books that your kids carry around in their backpacks are boring. just read them. there are full of political correctness, and they are deadly dull. there is no reported case in american history of a child in an american public school staying up late with a flashlight under his blanket reading his history books. >> [inaudible]

>> we have a lot of homes cool customers reject home schooled customers. you cannot do better than that faculty. not every teacher is a parent, but every parent is a teacher. >> ibm e-mail and phone calls every day -- i get e-mail and phone calls every day. friday i got a call from a home school mother who said she has been home schooling for 12 years, and these were the best material she has ever seen. it happens every day. we will help any way we can. if you cannot help us get into stay home and school associations, we would welcome

that. >> this is our country, and our kids should know it. they should know the reasons that we love it. when they hear the story, they will love it, too. this is the country in which they will live, though, mary, and raise their families, for 95% of them. this is the country they may be called upon one day to serve and defend. this is the country they may one day be called on and will perhaps be at the brink of the ultimate sacrifice. shouldn't they know if it is worth fighting for? shouldn't they know why it is worth fighting for? thank you very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009]

>> here is a look at our schedule. next, the portrait unveiling for former senate majority leader trent lott at the u.s. capitol. then, president obama portis the highest award, the medal of honor to the parents of a soldier who was killed in afghanistan in 2006. after that, back to the annual value voters summit. you'll hear remarks from mid romney and john maynard. -- mitt romney.

tomorrow, kevin baker and stephen moore on the obama presidency and the latest news of the week. then, james lynch looking at crime in the u.s. "washington journal" live tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. >> in 1971, as a new york times reporter, they'll see it -- the neil sheehan. he won the pulitzer prize for "a bright shining lie." he will discuss his new book on the nuclear arms race. "q&a" sunday night on c-span. earlier this week, a portrait of

former senate republican leader trent lott was unveiled at the u.s. capitol. he gave remarks and was joined by former president bill clinton, harry reid, and former house speaker newt gingrich. this is about 50 minutes. >> i want to welcome everyone to the united states isenate. president clinton, good to see you, of course. speaker gingrich, welcome senator lott and a lot family -- and the lott family. >> i really miss having trent in the senate. of course, i would miss him a lot more if he had stayed a democrat. when this son of a shipyard worker and a schoolteacher first came to washington, he came as

an aide to the damage that it be democratic congressman who would -- who he would ultimately succeed. i have rarely met anyone in congress who is easier to work with and trent lott. he was always pragmatic and very pleasant. he has always known when he has to be easy going and when he has to be rigid. he has always been true to what he believes. senator daschle tell me a long time ago something i came to learn on my own. senator lott is a pleasure to work with. moving the senate forward is no easy task. because trent lott always tried to keep us focused, we were always able to move legislation. his content -- his constituents appreciated him, and certainly his colleagues did. one does not get elected to be a whip in both the house and senate.

one does not get chosen to be the senate majority leader and senate minority leader without knowing how to work well with everyone around him. has he would say, without knowing how to heard those cats. really do mr. lot in the senate. i am glad we will now have stephen paulson's great portrait here to keep his likeness with us for generations to come. [applause] when i learned a few minutes ago i was going to introduce new gingrich, i thought to myself, it reminds me of when i was in the house on the foreign affairs committee and we had appearing before us a famous secretary of state.

steeg was conducting the meeting and said i really do not know how to refer to you, mr., doctor, ambassador, secretary? the secretary of state looked up and said your excellency will be just fine. [laughter] with newt gingrich, is it mr., prof., is a doctor? i think we will go with mr. 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 than this one. i am delighted to be here.

is the sort of offer you could not turn down on two levels. trent called me out of the blue and said hey, you are coming. he said it you will be here with president clinton, at which point it became unavoidable. the thing i want to say is something about trent and then something about the institution. we go all the way back to the 1970's when i was first running. he was a young congressman. before that he had been a democratic staffer in the rules committee. he understood the rules of the house with exquisite thoroughness. he had a remarkable ability to think strategically, to understand all the legislative possibilities. he rose to be both the ranking member on the rules committee and the republican whip. i think the second ranking member of the house on the republican side, and did -- then decided to come over here to be

referred to as the other body. he came over here and acquired the same tenacious ability to master it to very different things, the rules of this institution and the intricate dance a personality which backs the senate unlike any other institution in the world. he rose inexorably and came became one of the leading figures in the senate. he has a remarkable knack of making friends, a believing passionately, but with a great deal of help from his wife, living a life fully enjoying his family, keeping things in perspective and balance. he is a remarkable person and his portrait will hang well. coming over to this room, i was also reminded of the extraordinary importance of the u.s. senate. this is an institution whose belief in the long-term history

of freedom, captured by senator byrd and his remarkable history of the senate, an institution whose understanding of the importance of each senator has a foundation upon which freedom is sustained, an institution that with a remarkable passion for honoring the past and building the future, and finding ways to remain collegial in the present, fundamentally different than the house, and a remarkable reason why america has remained free for 225 years. it is appropriate for the senate as an institution and for trent lott as a person that his porch the hon. he is part of that continuity, -- that his portrait be hung. weaving together the impossible. is perfectly appropriate that i get a chance to introduce president clinton. the three of us in some ways are very similar. we came out of nowhere and had

no plausible reason to be here. we all could not believe either of the other two were here. [applause] 8 book came out recently about the degree to which president clinton and i had worked together on a series of large reforms and medicare, social security, and a number of other issues. what we did she was reforming welfare, balancing the budget, cutting taxes, rethinking medicare, and enabling us to look out for a quarter-century. it was remarkable. coming for me, this is probably saying a lot, the president was sometimes controversial.

trent shook his head and wondered why we wasted so much energy on the controversy. it is a great honor to be here to honor senator lott and his family and to introduce the president, president william jefferson clinton. [applause] >> thank you very much. thank you very much. mr. speaker, center lot, members of the family, century, 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 what newt said.

on the way in here, i was told that thomas jefferson was elected president in that room back there, and i remitted rick -- i remember trent that if it had not been for thomas jefferson, neither one of us would have been here, because he bought louisiana, and arkansas and mississippi were part of it. senator breaux wishes they still work. -- wishes they still were. i like to be here with all these republicans. i am a private citizen, and i do not have to convince you of anything anymore. the great thing about not being in office is you can say whatever you want. witness my notes. but nobody cares anymore. i would like to say a couple of things. we were laughing back there about how people get all

exercise around here, and my party is understandably exercised about whether the president was born in the united states, or about death panels. i was kidding knew about being the enemy of normal americans. that was one of his better lines. he's been $70 million looking into a land deal i lost money on, which means he thought i was both crude and stupid. actually, i resented the stupid more than a crooked. the worst thing trent ever said about me was that i was a spoiled brat. i say that to get back to the serious. he was on a sunday morning talk show, and a day or two later i called him and said i want you to know i am not upset. he said that is good.

i said i want you to know why. i said i know you. you worked hard all week and stayed out on saturday night. you woke up sunday morning with a headache. they doted you, and you took the bait. he said that -- they goaded you. he said that is exactly what happened. et think this step that is going on now is rough, i urge you to go to the library and check out a copy of "lives of the caesars ." it was written when the parchments of the records of the roman senate were still available. what cicero said about julius caesar is far worse than anything any of us are you have said about anybody else. i say that to make this point.

laurell cuomo 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 are doing the prose, the best liberals are always pushing the limits of what is possible. the best conservatives are open to change, but know when to draw the line. but when you get into the poetry, sometimes the further you push it out, the more effective is in the short run. i just want to amplify some things newt gingrich said, because i think they are important for the public record. trent lott was a good leader. he got a lot done when i was there. he became majority leader in 1996. i just want to run through the record, because i think that is what really matters.

months after he showed up, after two vetoes, i signed the welfare reform law. it led to a 60% reduction in the welfare rolls and was part of the reduction in poverty of almost 7 million, which is 100 times as had move from poverty to middle-class in the previous 12 years. it was a good bill. it had a conservative requirement that people who can work should work. had liberal supports for transportation, housing, medicine, and food. it worked. then we had the balanced budget amendment, which balance the budget for the first time since 1969. that in itself was an aberration. we had three surpluses and paid down on the national debt. we passed the children's health insurance program, the biggest

expansion of health care since medicatmedicaid. now more than 10 million children are getting healthcare because of that. then the senate ratified the chemical welker and -- chemical weapons convention. we watched the ratification debate and the vote which would not have passed without you, and you know it. i watched it with the prime minister of japan, who kept talking to me about how the people of japan had just been victimized by their first terrorist attack, which 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. then we had the biggest increase

in educational funding in 30 years. 1.3 million people in after- school programs. refunded 3000 charter schools -- week funded 3000 charter schools. when i took office, there is exactly one in the u.s., 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 to higher education in 50 years, with a lot of middle-class tax cuts, including the hope scholarship for people to go to community colleges and graduate work. then we passed the new markets initiative to get people to invest in places like the poor areas of mississippi, arkansas, new york, and everywhere else.

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

matters is whether people are better off when you quit that when you started. 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, thank you. [applause] before i see the microphone, i was charged with a solemn duty to say one other thing. i am here speaking for two people in my family, because after you and hillary got off to

a rough start in the senate, she said she never liked anything more than working with you on katrina, and you were a champ on that, too. so thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much, president clinton, and thank you all for being here. this is really a very emotional and special occasion for me. i am honored by your presence, and i am so appreciative of the fact that i have my family here, my children and grandchildren, all my friends and supporters and my former colleagues. i could go around this room and tell a story about almost everyone of you. things would get together. i look at susan collins, and she used to sort of go the other way when she would see me coming, but to she knew what i was up to. i just want you all to know i am

appreciative of the fact that you are here in this room. thank you, harry reid, for helping make this possible. we would not be here without our advisory board. nancy garrison did such a good job, the curator of the senate. diane, you are so fantastic. so many people helped make this possible, all working under the direction of the majority leader, harry reid. we go all the way back to the house, at time when we came to the senate and i wound up being majority leader. he was the whip. every time we would have a bill, 100 amendments what appeared miraculously. i would start going to harry, who was working with tom daschle, and saying can we narrow this down a little bit. i always wondered why it was 100, and what did he do.

after a few hours we would have it down to 17 amendments and we would get a vote on for five of them. harry work to the floor and had the confidence of his leader, tom daschle. i will always appreciate that time when you read the whip and i was a leader. towards the end of my time here, we wound up on one vote in 2007. we were down in the well. i will not mention the bill, because it might cause a stir in the room. we were doing our best, and i am working to try to get the votes. finally harry said i do not think we are going to make it. his troops are going out one door and our troops are going out the other door, and the middle was not going to hold. there we stood, the two leaders of hobart party -- leaders of our party, working well

together, and losing. one of my less fond memories, but i appreciate it because we were there together, shoulder to shoulder, doing what we thought was right. you learn a lot of great lessons in the senate. of course, are republican leader over here, mitch mcconnell, my friend, the center of my son and his family. jet lives in bergen county, ky. we have been to a lot of fund- raisers in kentucky. i learned over the years that sometimes your leadership needs a little extra input from your colleagues. ing in someone as a leavening force. mitch fill that role when it came to thinking through an issue and thinking strategically. i have tremendous respect for

him, and i admire what you are doing now. i know how tough it is to be the minority leader. majority leader is much better, but just keep thinking positively, mitch, and be nice, harry. let me first say how much i appreciate the artist that produced our portrait here today. steve, where are you? steve paulson, stand up. i actually have not seen the finished product, and he was surprised that that. let me tell you, tricia paid attention to every detail. i only had one request of steep, make me look better than i actually do. in fact, somebody observed that the twinkle in my i was not there.

i said trisha took that out. i did not realize what a long and detailed evolutionary process you go through to produce a portrait. it really goes through a long process. i appreciate what you have done and the way you worked with all of the staff members. they really made this a special occasion for those of us who have been majority leaders. thank you very much for coming, linda. tom and i served at a time that he described as a time like no other. when we started off, we did not know each other that well, but we developed a bond. i have said many times, when you bleed together, new bond.

tom and i went through a lot of difficult things, including 9/11 and the anthrax problem we had in his office. through all, we became good friends. people are sometimes shocked that you can be adversaries legislatively but develop a real friendship. so thank you, linda, for being here, and thank you, steven, for all you have done. to my friends, supporters, and former staff members, we did not realize how many their work. we only indicted by staff members from the senate, but i did have the position of secretary of senate and whip on two occasions. that is a lot of staff over those years. they are the people who make the senators look good on occasion and do good things for people. they have helped me get a lot of good deserving earmarked projects.

all of them know how much i admire them and love them, and i want to thank them for being here. the only job tougher than the one trisha had. i see my colleagues from both sides of the capital here, from all different philosophical strikes. bob michael, a great singer, fraternity brother, and a great guy. [applause] bought livingston, for one moment in history, the epicenter of the political world in the united states was the pearl river between mississippi and louisiana. bob and i talked about that. i do not know if john boehner is

here. i am sure the house has some good work to do tododay, better than they did yesterday. bob dole had indicated that he was going to be here. again, thank you to my colleagues for being here. elizabeth, tell bob thanks for the flowers. my colleague from mississippi, i did not know that you had to have white hair to be a senator from mississippi. [laughter] thad always accuse me of putting something on my hair anyway. after 9/11, we went to new york and said we are all new yorkers now, and we are going to do our part to help new york city

recover. chuck schumer had one request that was way over the top, but i said it sounded like a good idea to meet, and we got it done. chubb will know what i am talking about. -- chuck will know what i am talking about. sometimes it is better you do not know the details on these things. [laughter] after katrina, in many ways our hearts were broken. it was such a devastating experience. it was tough to go down there and see what had happened. thad was working on appropriations and getting things done that the rest of us took credit for. thad and i were on the floor, trying to get a small amount of money to move an entire railroad off the coast of north to

interstate 10. it was a small amount of money, as i recall, but republican colleagues were suffering under the weight of the cost and the idea that we would have federal funds move the railroad. john warner probably voted for it. it got to be very close. we were putting together one of those unholy alliances that you have to do in the senate. ted kennedy and chuck schumer voted with us. we won by one vote. that is really all you need. [laughter] there is no need is one drink an extra few votes. when hillary was leaving the chamber, i reached over and touched her on the arm and thank her for the vote.

there are moments like that that you remember forever. for all of you, and i could mention each one of you, thank you. i have such fond memories of my experience here. we had our ups and downs, and i made my mistakes, but it was a tremendous experience. i really enjoyed every moment of it. i was thinking today that if he were still in the senate, ted kennedy would be here today. he was always good about coming to these events. we developed a friendship, and i wrote him a hand written note when time that i intended for him to burn. i said thank you for your many courtesies over the years. the world only knew. what i did not know is, he framed and hung it on his wall. so you develop these friendships

and these relationships. he would go to the floor and roar like a lion he was. we would try to respond in kind. he would go back to the room and say how did i do? i also have a note here from my colleague, but my partner from louisiana. it is very natural in the private sector, because we were together so many times in the house and senate. john breaux was one of those who always tried to find the sweet spot between the two parties. when i came to the senate, the same thing. i remember when john breaux and i used to get in the center aisle of the chamber, and nervousness roca out. -- broke out. what we tried to do, he had a

feel for where the moderate position was, and i had a feel for where the republicans were. he may be met a few times. he costs as a couple of hundred million dollars on a tax bill one time. we had to get it done, and he kept acting like we did not have the votes, until i finally figured out that we did have the votes. [laughter] at which point, we quit negotiating. you have to have that. so thank you john for all the great memories and the things we did that were good for the country a long way. before i talk more about our special guests here today, i have to say a special thanks to my family for 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 to my daughter. they were always the light of my life. they were great children, and even greater adults and parents. thank you for your support and love all these years. to the grandchildren, they are the ones that make me smile most. i have been known to say that i am the happiest when i am headed to an old miss football game, or when i am going anywhere to see my grandchildren. to trent lott iii and of lottlott, and the one that is asleep on the front row, you are what i am working for in the future right now. then of course there is tricia.

no senator could have possibly ever had a more supportive wife and help make. she put up with me, which was not always easy. i had might idiosyncrasies -- i had my idiosyncrasies. she had to put up with the time away and financial sacrifices, but she was always there. she always was part of the international group and the spouse's club. she has always been there. she is the one who arranged this event. [applause]

it is not easy being lott's wife. [applause] but she has always been the wind beneath my wings. the chancellor and you are better than i did before i did, and i have always been a little worried about that. let me talk about president clinton and speaker gingrich. thank you first of all for being here. he did not hesitate. yesterday he was in new york meeting with president obama. he is working with international organizations. he will the events that he thinks are important, republican or democrat. when you leave these offices,

you remember the good things, and you forgive all the little slights. your respect grows, and then one day you are friends. the partisanship, you forget a lot of that. we have some great stories we could tell. one of the reasons we got along so well is because we never lost our ability to talk. even when i do or say something stupid, or vice versa -- excuse me, mr. president. quite often, we would call and laugh about it. he had that southern sense of humor, and even the last week he was president, jim ziegler will remember this. he went into the majority leader's office and he had to go to the bathroom. he told the sergeant at arms he had to go to the restroom. i had a lot of cartoons on the

wall that were all about president clinton. you know what? he came out and said, a pretty good. but i think i have some better than that. how about if i send you one? he was in his last week. a day or two later, here it comes. it was framed. it was a great cartoon, by the president of the united states. i had a great laugh, and it was a great cartoon. republicans had called him and put him in a straitjacket, put an elephant on top of the whole, and in the last frame he is standing there saying, i think you got him this time. we did a lot of good things together.

the ones i will be most proud of our the balanced budget and the surpluses. we did other things like the portability of insurance, a list of things where we did find a way to come together. we were the triangle. newt was part of that too. even though we had our differences, we found a way to come together. i always admired the job that you did in the house. now here they are, and they are still working for the good of the country and the good of world. they are still thinking about where we have been and where we need go. when it comes to history, i do not know to politicians to know more about history. the president is talking about caesar and cicero, and new can give you a history of wars and

sometimes even rewrites history to make it come out differently. [laughter] but thank you all very much for being here. it means a great deal to me, and i thought maybe it would be a good time for us to show that a president, speaker, the leaders can find a way to come together. so i would like to conclude with two three-poinbrief points. number one, remember your families. try to make it a family friendly place. harry has heard me do this. i used to complain that when the sun would start down, the we should go home and have dinner with their families. quite often, i was saying it to an empty chamber, because the people who were negotiating were gone. you could not find them. i hope that you will always make it a point to think about the

loved ones, like the ones you see here. if you do that, they will be happier because of it. i believe the country will be the beneficiary of it. that is easy to say and hard to do for leaders. i believe it would make a great difference. the other thing is that if you are looking for a result for the country, no matter what the issue is, you can start of with extremes. both sides will push one way or the other. usually there is a common ground you can find. it will be good for the country. i used to say to tom, if we can find a way to get this done, there will be plenty of benefit to go around to both parties and all the senators involved. so we had three good old boys from the south -- if they can find a way to get that common ground, i know the outstanding

leaders that we have in the congress, in the house and senate now, both sides of the aisle, can get it done. i hope you will do that. i will be praying for you and wishing you the very best as you try to do that. now i would like to turn this over to one of the successors to that position i had as majority leader, the great leader, mitch mcconnell. [applause] >> it is my honor to join so many distinguished public servants here. many of our colleagues here in the senate and house, former colleagues of trent lott.

his official portrait will be unveiled shortly, and i would indicate to all of you, we are going to hang that portrait in the republican leader's office across the way here. he will have a chance to see it this afternoon. i welcome you to come by and look at it again. i would also like to acknowledge president clinton. what an honor for you, trent, to have president clinton with us today, and speaker gingrich. they were indeed quite a triumvirate during the late 1990's. it was extraordinary to watch all three of you interact in the ways that you did and learn of your personal affection for each other. as others have indicated, these bitter political battle kind of fade with the passage of time. either that, or trent did a pretty good job of hiding the invite list for the rest of us. anyone who has ever known trent lott has come to admire his

skills as a politician and his virtues as a man. today we honor both. his leadership skills developed early on. the seniors that pascagoula high class of 1959 not only voted him senior class president, but also most likely to succeed, most popular, a model of christian conduct, neatest, which does not surprised any of us, most polite, in short, all the things that most americans associate with politicians. [laughter] he put those qualities to the test at the age of 32 when he got elected to congress as

republicans in a district where more than nine out of 10 of the registered voters were democrats. he did it in the same way he did everything, with boundless enthusiasm and with conviction that with a little effort, he could bring just about anybody around to his point of view. as a young congressman, and later on as a house whip, he inspired his colleagues with the same enthusiasm, hard work, and a determination to win, even in the face of tough odds. as we all remember, he enjoys himself in the process. he may be remembered mostly as a senator, but he made his name in the house first, setting up a historic with operation that cleared the way for some of the biggest legislative victories of the reagan era and laying the foundation for a republican majority in the years that followed. his second career on this side of the rotunda, he earned the

respect of his senate colleagues by showing the same qualities here that he had shown in the house, along with equal measures of patience, persistence, and above all, persuasion, which lyndon johnson once called the only real power available to the party leader. of course, it all the not happen right away. when he first moved to the upper chamber, he did not much care for it. he did not like glacial pace of action. he did not think he fits in. worst of all, for a guy who arranges his socks bicolor, he thought the place was completely disorganized. he started writing a list of things he would change if he ever got the chance. of course, a few years later, he did. he was elected by his colleagues to the senate leadership team,

and quickly worked his way all the way to the top, culminating in 6.5 years of distinguished service as republican leader of the senate. throughout his years in the senate, trent was careful to note that some occasions where historic, not political. an example was his establishment of the leaders lecture series. bipartisan events like this, held in a non-partisan setting here in the old senate chamber were an important reminder that senators are stewards of a new tradition that is only as strong as we leave it. looking back, we can see that trend had a remarkable career. the first person ever to serve as whip in both houses of congress, he led the senate republicans in one of the most trying times in our nation's history, and i guarantee you this, no other party leader in history ever showed up to work

in a kilt. he has done it all with a spring in his step and a song on his lips, and from the very start, from that first race in 1972 to this very day, one thing has been constant in the life and work of trent lott. her name is tricia. she has already been given the recognition she so richly deserves. trent always put her and the rest of the family curse. he could never understand why other senators could not finish -- the rest of the family first. he was building to legacies all along. -- he was building two legacies, and he succeeded at both.