would say there -- where is the leadership? we need leadership from the older christian community to come alongside and do exactly what you have said today. hopefully, the lord will use that to help some little 21- year-old person make the right decisions. god bless you. we love you. i have hope for this generation. i love the action orientation of this generation and now we just have to get help provide wisdom. god bless you and god bless everyone else. [applause] >> and now more from the family research council's boaters summit with talk-show host bill bennett. his comments are about 40 minutes. . .

>> do not belong. [laughter] >> good morning, good morning, good morning. good morning in america. my name is west bollinger, and i make career-long educator. i have enjoyed every moment of my experience. this time of year is one i really enjoy, because it is the time we see all of our students going back to school. i remember a few short years ago i remember a few short years ago at the start of the school year , it two days inn, a young man was sent to my office. after a talk to him, i called his mother and said, i'm calling because your son was sent to my office for misbehaving. she said, hold on, mr. bollinger. i have had and all summer for three months, and i never called you one misbehaved.

she was right. story's over. anyway, i hope you can tell that i have lots of fond memories of education, but would you believe that we have problems in education today? i think we will all agree to that. i have -- would you, or do you know that what the greatest problem in education is is the lack of knowledge of our culture by students in high school. the longer kids stay in school, the less they know about our american heritage. well, i have the antidote to that. bill bennett has written what

many historians of the united states say is the greatest comprehensive american narrative in our country's history that has ever been written. and if you happened to see tucker carlson is a show and the last week or so -- if you did not see it, you ought to check out his web archives. because it is a very important statement. we think, when we talk to kids, "what is this about american history that is a concern?" they tell us, over and over, boring, boring. why do i have to study american history? we think that one of the reasons is foreign textbooks. so we believe we have the antidote to it. we have collected a panel of educators to develop a companion curriculum for bill's wonderful books.

online, digital. we will show you about a little bit. but it has been received nationally beyond our wildest dreams. it is phenomenal. we think it is a revolution in the way that american history will be taught, and we like to say that the revolution has started. the colored states on this map that you see indicate that since the fall of 2008, states where our materials are being used in the classroom today. if you happen to -- i think that is worthy of applause, myself. if you happen to live in one of the light-colored cities, would like to talk to, because we would like materials in those states, as well. notice the two dark states. those are states where we have already received official statements of action, indiana and illinois, and the city of new york.

to our surprise, last february, the state board of education indiana, after rep -- reviewing the text books of all the big three companies that were on the show, the board of education sent a letter to all high school principals and superintendents saying that dr. bennett's books are the only books on the list written to engage student's in trusts. that was phenomenal. so we must be gathering some national attention as well, because that is what is for us next week on the 700 club. their crew came to indiana and spent three days talking to teachers from public schools, private schools, christian

schools, and home schools, all using these materials. and we're very excited. i wish i could tell you what is coming on next week. well, all of this started because of one gentleman. obviously, you know bill for lots of reasons. you may know him as a cnn contributor. you may know him as -- >> they don't watch cnn. >> yeah, yeah. [laughter] but when he is on there, have you ever seen anybody take on the liberal media like bill? no. [applause] you may know him as morning in america bill bennett, or you may know him like me, helping raise my children with the book of virtues.

regardless how we know him, i think we will all agree that he is an american patriot extraordinary. welcome to the side of the podium, our friend, my friend of yours, bill bennett. >> thank you. thank you. thank you. [applause] thank you all very much, and good morning. good morning. that is better. it is not lunch time yet. just hold on. welcome to washington. i know washington welcomes you. you know they are glad you're here, don't you? pretty interesting. last january, we were surrounded. now we have got them on the run. it is kind of interesting. kind of interesting.

in washington, they have not learned how to block and tackle. they complain a lot, but they have not learned the fundamentals. stay on offense. the thing i learned in washington more than anything else is that you are on offense run defense. is better to be on offense, and it is a good thing to be. one of the most extraordinary will be the next volume of the book, what happened this summer at the town hall meetings. the resurrection of democracy. quite extraordinary. it happened last week and is happening again. how can you deprecate and denigrate america? -- how can you deprecate and denigrate americans coming to meetings to speak out in a way publicly to their elected officials? they found a way to denigrate

it, but it seems the most american of traditions. i am happy to be here. as you heard in the last segment, we're talking about reclaiming the culture, reclaiming television. we are more ambitious. we're going to reclaim the schools. we're going to reclaim -- we are going to reclaim the teaching of american history, the story of america. we're going to get the story right, not just in charter schools, but in american public schools. that is what we are going to do. it throws me a little off when i am adopted by the state of illinois and indiana and approved by new york. i'm not always used to this kind of respectability.

but we will live with it. how did you get new york? the same whether washington's army got out of new york. they came down, we got in, we got the approval, we got out. in is in the book. i'm delighted to be back. tony perkins is one of my favorite people. american, christian, patriot, marine. i love tony perkins. my friend, bob morrison is here. he helped me write the book and i will be forever in his debt. i thank you. my wife is here, director of the foundation. stand up, mrs. bennett. [applause] known to all of you who listened to morning in america as mrs. bent. our son will say, would you stop

with that 19th-century thing? anyway, john stewart took off after he heard me referring to her. so he comes home and says, hello, elaine bennett, i love you, elaine bennett, what is for dinner, elaine bennett. basically, that it. that is basically right. pot roast. i'm glad it is. that is fine. i wrote this book for a lot of reasons. i did not like the books out there. i thought they were boring and dull and tendentious and politically left. i did not think they were accurate. i did not think people who read this story would be in love with the country which is described, and they should be in love with the country the story describes. the first thing to do was to make a ripping good story with a lot of anecdotes, a lot of

flavor, lot of life. why? because it is the greatest political story ever told. it is actually the second greatest story ever told. you know the grid story ever told. this is the second british story ever told. it is a whipping good yard -- yarn. we heard about reading a history book and the doctor's office and laughing out loud. oh, man, you have got to love that reagan, people said. we told the story of wild trading in england with margaret thatcher. their horses without the help, and thatcher's horse made a loud noise. thatcher said, i am so sorry. reagan said, never mind, i thought it was the horse. [laughter]

i checked it out. i asked james baker. i said, is this true? i do not want to put it in the book unless it is true. i said, how you know? >> he said i was there. i said where, exactly? he said, never mind, it is true. it is the greatest political story ever told, and we tell these stories and this narrative in the book. i did this book for the people to fall in love with their country again, or if they had never been in love with it, to fall in love with it. [applause] it talks about everything. it talks about truth. it talks about stories pretty talks about conflicts. it talks about our leaders. it talks about, for example, the year 1800. thomas jefferson got tired of

paying tribute to the barbary pirates, a group of muslim pirates were kidnapping americans, more than a million europeans. and he said he would not pay tribute anymore. let's stop paying john adams. you can fight them if you want, but if you fight them, he will fight them for 200 years. smart guy, tom? they knew what they were doing. jefferson went to war against them. he said we are not want to push this country around, and she was right. we tell the stories of the civil war, the first world war, world war two. we talk about lincoln, we talk about frederick douglass. i have a lot of favorites. frederick douglass is one of them. very much neglected. i do not know why more of the african-american leadership does not talk about frederick douglass. probably because of his deep devotion to lincoln and the 3r

african-american leadership does not talk about frederick douglass. probably because of his deep devotion to lincoln and the country and his deep devotion to ulysses s. grant. he is an incredible character. finding freedom one day while wrestling with an overseer in an eastern maryland slave house. he will not let go of him coming breaks away and runs often becomes a free man. but, of course, his life is unbelievably challenging, given where he was living. one of the great stories i think about every time ride a train on amtrak. i think about frederick douglass buying a first-class ticket, and the conductor comes through and says, you have to leave, you're a black man. he says he would not leave. get douglas up the train, he is standing at the site of the train, but he is holding the seat in his hand. clap up

[applause] and >> i talked a lot about grant and sherman. they were great friends. they asked sherman why they were so close. sherman said, grant stood by me when i was crazy, he stood by me when i was struck. now we stand by each other all the time. greasing, uplifting. that is the story of america. teddy roosevelt. i love this army he put together. joe wheeler, an ex-confederate, big time ex-confederate officer, chasing retreating spaniards in 1898 somewhere near san juan hill. he heard the yell, "we have the damn yankees on the run." he just could not get the enemy's straight. but but taylor -- you remember,

teddy roosevelt put together an army of trackers, former sheriff's, people from tiffany's in new york -- this is one of my favorites. sgt but taylor, when later campaigning for roosevelt, said to crowds, and " ladies and gentleman, theodore roosevelt kept every promise he ever made to us, and he will to you, as well. he led us of san one hell -- up san juan hill like sheep to the slaughter, and so will he leave you -- lead you. " you cannot make this stuff up. it is a country of dreams, but the amazing thing about this country is that dreams still come true. when i was secretary of education of the united states, traveling the country, my wife,

a former special ed teacher -- i would teach the fourth, seventh, and 11th grades. i was in the 11th grade classroom in san diego, and a woman said, you really love this country, don't you? i said, yes, i do. we can use what i call the gates test. every country has gates. one way to test a country is, when you raise the gates, which way the people run? do they run in, or do they run out? i think they do a pretty good story on the berlin wall. when we raise our kids in this country, people run in. when we do not raise our gates, people run in. no matter what we do, people running. no matter how many times you

hear this country a tops down, not enough people can get enough of it. it creates real problems for us, but it tells us that something right and good is going on in this country. . [applause] patriotism, thoughtful patriotism, thoughtful and deep love of country is something looked down on by some of those would-be intellectuals. they look down their noses at people who hang the flag, wave the flag, where the flag, thinking it is a low-level instinct. "i hate the vulgar crowd." that is a lot of people believe. that patriotism is a down market commodity. it is not a down market commodity. it is an up market to mark the

-- up market commodity. we need to get children's reasons to love the country, and the reasons are there. it is not just teaching them to solidify because we love it -- to salute the flag at an early age because we love it. when they hear the story, they will know that in the long story of inhumanity and misery that is human history, the american achievement is high and unique. [applause] we have handed the story over to other people to tell. we have handed over to other people to publish. we're fighting back and getting our claiming these books and clamming this space in the schools. that is where i want to be. plato -- i'm a philosopher by training -- plato says in the

republic, talking about the training of youth, but you know, plow,, in the end, there are to give you a fundamental questions of a society -- there are two fundamental questions for society. who gets to teach the children, and what we teach them. those are the two fundamental questions. we're focused on those questions when it comes to the teaching of american history. it will be an major part of my life's work for the next 66 years. i want you to join me. thank you very much. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

i was asked what i thought of the dick cheney incident in texas. i said, i cannot recall anyone since aaron burr in the vice- president see whether shot somebody. [laughter] do you see why a book written by bill bennett just might capture the interest of american students? i think it is phenomenal. >> do you see why a book written by bill bennett might just capture the interest of american students? i think it is phenomenal. there are 22 adoption states that have a cycle of american history textbooks. that is why we are in illinois and indiana. other states have individual

districts make the decisions. if there is one thing i could ask today from you, will you join the revolution with us and help us influence school leaders, legislators and others in your states and districts to take a look at these books. we would be very appreciative if you join us. thank you. you join us. thank hipa -- thank you. if i could go back to the power point for a moment -- if you go online, and i put the website up a minute ago, please take a visit and a tour of the site. what we have done is to create a curriculum and supplements for teachers. this is the front of the page.

you can see a menu on the left, talking about everything on the screen. we even give you a portion of the text so you can see how it reads. lots of teachers and parents like this aspect. we also have web tutorials, and you can simply sit back, click on one of the sections, and it is like we take over your computer and your mouse will move and it will show you exactly how to use everything and find primary resources and other things that link directly to bill's wonderful text. but the thing is the fact that we have we call a premium road map that allows teachers and students to interact with 13 our team -- with our team. you can ask team hope. send us questions. send us deep-start questions, and we will respond to those and

every student can see how we respond when questions are asked. just a fun of -- phenomenal piece. have you seen bill's almanac? it is wonderful. it is also on display in our booth here. i will talk about that in a moment. this moment comes up for students as they open the page. a very good way to start a class and focus on what is happening. two, we have students and teachers sending ablaze and things they have done, debates in the classroom, field trips, and we post them. all of these sites are. -screened. it is an amazing way for students to share. we're excited about it. it all started with the gentleman to my right, and we are very upset about where it is going.

we have to compete with the big three car. people told us you never do the state adoption, you never have districts that get your books 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. want to that. if there are any what are the grade levels? >> we have fifth graders reading this, we have adoption in eighth grade. the interesting thing is we

want to make this available for all students. when people first read it, they say this is great for advanced placement, but i say it is time for advanced placement for all students. it we want all students to be involved with rich curriculum and not watered down. that is what we want. >> [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. entitled to such protection. that 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. of liberty and be not afraid. >> 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] >> in a moment, the portrait unveiling four. what at the u.s. capitol. after that, president obama it presents the medal of honor to the parents of the soldier was killed in afghanistan in 2006. later, on at "america and the courts,"elena kagan and how she

prepares on arguing cases in the supreme court. >> tomorrow on "washington journal," kevin baker and stephen moore on the obama presidency and the latest news of the week. then james lynch on a recent fbi report on crime and the u.s. after that, and author on his book, what americans really want, really, which examines public opinion and what people really want from their lives. also, e-mail and phone call. "washington journal," live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. earlier this week, a portrait of former -- a portrait of trent lott was unveiled at the u.s. capitol. he gave remarks and was joined by former president bill clinton, senate majority leader harry reid, and former speaker newt air bridge.

-- newt gingrich. >> i welcome everyone to the u.s. senate. mr. clinton, it is good to see you again. 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. his portrait will hang well. coming over to this 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 portrait be hung. he is part of that continuity. 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 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 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.