Remarks Of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
About Retiring Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.)
Senate Floor
September 27, 2006

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I have listened to my friend, Jim Jeffords, the Senator from Vermont speak here this morning. I couldn't help but think as I heard Senator Jeffords speak with wit and clarity, and you might say even some emotion, that Jim Jeffords, given the opportunity to make a speech--and many of us will do so on this Senate floor as we leave--did it being true to himself, with his own good nature, his own sense of history, and his own justifiable pride in what he has accomplished.

I have known Jim Jeffords from his days as a State senator in Rutland. I have known his wonderful wife, Liz Daley Jeffords. They are both dear friends of mine and my wife Marcelle. Mrs. Jeffords was referred to as a great lady the other night by the anchor of our State's largest TV station.

Some of us who have known Jim for years would say she gets that greatness for putting up with him for all these years. But we Vermonters found no difficulties in putting up with Jim Jeffords. He has been elected overwhelmingly to the offices he has held and he has done it with support from Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike. He has gotten these votes the old-fashioned way--he earned them.

We came here together 32 years ago. I like to talk about the Leahys coming to Vermont in the 1850s. Jim reminds me his family came to Vermont a century before. We both live in small towns in Vermont; we have had that sense of Vermont. He has never lost it. He has been a good friend.

His career highlights are legendary. Let me tell you why he is supported so. First and foremost, Senator Jeffords is known as an environmental champion. In Vermont, they say, If you scratch a Vermonter you scratch an environmentalist, no matter the party.

He has done it in the great tradition of Senator Bob Stafford. Senator Bob Stafford is also from the same county as Jim Jeffords--actually Jim grew up near him. He mentioned Bob today.

He carved out a legend on education and the environment when he was here. But then Jim Jeffords had done that as attorney general and as a State senator in our State. For the past three decades he has left his fingerprints on nearly every environmental law enacted, from the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act to the Superfund program to acid rain reduction.

In fact, when others in his position would be thinking about where are the papers going and how will we retire, just a matter of months ago he offered the boldest solution to combat global climate change this body has ever considered.

He has championed legislation to strengthen our Nation's education system and increase the opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

In 1975, as a brandnew Member of the House of Representatives, as he said, coming in with a neck brace--the walking wounded from an election where both of us ran in Vermont--he coauthored what would later be known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA. It was strongly supported by his colleagues here in the Senate and before that in the House. It has provided equal access to education for millions of students with disabilities, students who otherwise would have been shunted aside and this country would not have had the value of their achievements.

As chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, he worked tirelessly on education, job training, and disability legislation. Most recently, his leadership in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee was essential to the passage of the highway bill. Of course, Vermont and the rest of the country will benefit from that.

I might say there has been no greater leader for Vermont's dairy industry than Senator Jeffords. In his work on the Northeast Dairy Compact and the milk programs, he has fought tough battles for Vermont dairies--and won. He actually knows as much about our dairy industry as most dairy farmers.

It is what he has done for future generations. All of us can talk about what we do here. It is what we leave for our children and our grandchildren that counts. Future generations of Vermonters will honor Jim's legacy when they see the work that he began as attorney general and continued throughout the Senate--helping to restore Lake Champlain to its brilliance, its magnificence; or witness the bald eagles abounding in the wilderness areas, thanks to Jim.

I applaud him for this statement as he takes leave of the Senate--although it seems this year we will never know when we leave. None of us are getting our final airplane reservations yet. But he has done it with his usual grace and good humor. I applaud him for that and I hope all of us when we come to leave, whenever that may be, will have the opportunity to show that same grace. He served Vermont well and, just as importantly, he served the Senate well.

After a long career I might violate the rules somewhat, addressing my friend and colleague directly: For a long career, Jim, you can leave with your head held high. You have served Vermont and your Nation proudly.

I yield the floor.

# # # # #