♪ ♪ [applause] >> please and gentlemen, please stand for the introduction of the vice-president, connersl anthem. -- ownerhonors, invocation and national anthem. >mr. jack meter, arlingt national cemetery superintendent. major general carl r. horst, the united states army district of arm -- of washington. about role michael mullen, chairman, joint chiefs of staff. the hon. -- hon. william flynt iii, deputy -- wliam lynn iii, deputy secretary of defense. ladies and gentlemen, the vice president of the unid states. ♪ >> will you go with me in prayer? our gracious father, we ask you to be present among us today as we pause to honor those who ve served our nation and without hesitation, with selfless courage, and a love for our tion and the people we serve. thank you for the willingness to fight for freedom, for america, for home and family, anfour of their comrades that stand next to them on the battlefield. at continued --nd for their comrades the senate to them on the battlefield. continue to watch over these men and women. they will never forget, always impressed upon our memories, those

i look back and said, how big was the budget in 1994 when conner was born? the entire budget was only 1.4 trillion dollars. do you know what the deficit is? somewhere between 1.3 trillion dollars and 1.5 trillion dollars. we are now borrowing the amount of our entire budget. what more have we done in government bowman -- done in government? if i take $1 out common and how much of that does the federal government barrault? 43 cents. think about what the interest rate will be. interest rates are a little lower now, but it is going to come to a point for the interest is going to be greater than almost anything else we spend, and that is going to take away a lot of options, so as we move forward, if you have ideas -- my first job was in the market. remember when we use to bring bottles back and get a refund? my job was to go get those bottles and bring them back. you always have a little suggestion box, so when someone came in and had a better idea of how to improve, you put it in, and that is what we have to make -- suggestion boxes. we have a suggestion box 24

. >> i like to go sometimes on a quiet night to the connerence rooms, because the portraits on the walls are all of my predecessors as chief justice. to some extent, you look up at them onnthe walls with a degree of a lot and an appreciation of what they did. they are eager looking down on me with either bemusement or amazement. each of them has the story to tell, not even personally but the institution of the court. you look up at marshall and appreciate the court functioning as a court, moving the court from a situation where each justice wrote his own opinion. instead of saying, no, we are going to have an opinion of the court, which was crucial in having it in its present form, write to the most unfortunate of my predecessors, the author of the dread scott decision, and you have to understand that he thought he was going to e

conner to introduce our main speaker. this was said about senator byrd and, that he is already recognized as an american icon. without history, he will hold a prominent place as a senate legend. that was senate republican lettleader bill frist. [applause] >> thank you, dr. weinstein. welcome to the celebration for the release of the u.s. senator 's autobiography. and"child of the of/and coal fiel the appalachian coal fieds. ld." notebook we have acquired and publish yet represents that mission as well as this one does, and that is for us all cause for celebration. -- notebo book we have acquiredn published yet represents that as well as this one does, and that is for alcause for celebration. this has been a work of bloolov. i want to mention those who typed every page of the 1700 pages of the original hill who edited the firstd kathy manuscript and gary legg who contributed a wonderful picture on tehe book. dean macey has been supportive. provost's lengt lang was instrun bringing the project to my attention in the first p

i look back and said, how big was the budget in 1994 when conner was born? the entire budget was only 1.4 trillion dollars. do you know what the deficit is? somewhere between 1.3 trillion dollars and 1.5 trillion dollars. we are now borrowing the amount of our entire budget. what more have we done in government bowman -- done in government? if i take $1 out common and how much of that does the federal government barrault? 43 cents. think about what the interest rate will be. interest rates are a little lower now, but it is going to come to a point for the interest is going to be greater than almost anything else we spend, and that is going to take away a lot of options, so as we move forward, if you have ideas -- my first job was in the market. remember when we use to bring bottles back and get a refund? my job was to go get those bottles and bring them back. you always have a little suggestion box, so when someone came in and had better idea of how to improve, you put it in, and that is what we have to make -- suggestion boxes. we have a suggestion box 24 h