Senate Proceeding on Sep 10th, 2009 :: 3:31:15 to 3:40:10
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3:31:03 to 3:31:22( Edit History Discussion )

Robert Byrd: with a heart still achieving, still pursuing,

3:31:15 to 3:40:10( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Saxby Chambliss

3:31:23 to 3:31:44( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: learn to labor and the priding officer: senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: mr. president, i have been fortunate during my life in public service to witness a t of historical tribute just paid by one icon of

3:31:45 to 3:32:06( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: the united states senate to another member of the united states senate. mr. president, i rise to pay my respects to the late senator ted kennedy. it's, as one of my colleagues id earlier, it is a little bit ironic when you come to the senate you find out those with

3:32:07 to 3:32:27( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: whom you have significant political disagreements were folks that you get to know well and that you have the opportunity to work i'm sure that during my political campaign for the united states senate todayed it raised me a lot of money by virtue of the fact that i would sight him in my fundraising mailouts.

3:32:28 to 3:32:53( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: because coming from a very conservative part of the country it was popular liberal members of the senate and say you needed to be there to counteract when but when i came to the senate and certainly senator kenne from opposite ends of the political spectrum, i learned

3:32:54 to 3:33:14( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: very quickly if senator kennedy what the senate is all about. i was here about couldn't have been but a couple of days, something less than 48 hours and i wasotified that i was going to be on the judiciary committee and i would be the chairman of the immigration

3:33:15 to 3:33:35( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: subcommittee on judiciary. and my ranking member would be ted kennedy. senator kennedy came to me on the floor within a few me being notified of that and he said, he said, saxby you and i need to sit down and discuss some immigra

3:33:36 to 3:33:57( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: want to accomplish during the next two years and i just want to talk with you about it, get your thoughts and give you my thoughts. i said, well, sure, t would be great. i'd be happy to come to roar office and sit down with you. he said, no, that's not the way the senate you're the chairman and i will

3:33:58 to 3:34:18( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: come to your office. so the nt day a senator who had been in office for well offeover40 years came to the office of a member of the senate w been here a little over 40 hours and sat down and had a conversation. that was

3:34:19 to 3:34:40( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: the united states senate works that i will never forget. as we begin working together on the immigration subcommittee we worked for about a year. it was in excess of a year, i guess, on an issue that we talked about that first day in my office and it involved the

3:34:41 to 3:35:02( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: expansion of the l1h16789 visas. our econo was booming and voices across our country needed access to more employees who had a specialized expertise. we were successful in ultimately striking a compromise. it was difficult for ted because the left wing of his party was very much in opposition to what

3:35:03 to 3:35:23( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: we were doing. it was somewhat, although a little less difficult for me because the right wing of my party was in we were doing. ted called me up one day after we had finished our negotiations and he was laughing and he said, saxby we have entered into an

3:35:24 to 3:35:45( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: agreement on this and i'm going to do exactly what i told you i would do but, boy, am i ever getting beat up by the far left in my party. they are just killing to me. it is to the point where i am up for reelection and you may have to come to massachusetts campaign for me is we laughed about that.

3:35:46 to 3:36:07( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: well, two days later i had been besieged by phone calls from ultra conservative folks from my state and i called ted and i said, ted, you won't believe this i'm getting beat were by the same issues by ultra conservatives in my party but don't worry i don't need you to come to georgia to campaign for me. he laughed about that like i've

3:36:08 to 3:36:29( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: never heard him laugh and the la to any extents with when he was here for president obama's inauguration and he reminded me of that sry and he never forgot that. i will have a very fond memory ted by virtue of the fact my

3:36:30 to 3:36:52( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: grandchildren were eight and years old when i first came to the senate. we have ant an ice cream social across from the park of our offices. his office was directly below my offi i am walking back from the ice cream social with my grandchildren who were here for that because it happens the same

3:36:53 to 3:37:14( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: time as the white house picnic and ted's driving off in his car and he sees me coming across with my grandchildren, stops the car, gets out and he says, saxby these must be your grandchildren and i said, they are, and i said i want my dogs to see them and have a chance to meet my dogs so he got out of the car and got

3:37:15 to 3:37:35( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: the grandchildren just love playing with those dogs. every year after that i never called him, he called me because he knew when the white house picnic was going on that my dprch would be here. and he the dog up when the grandchildren were here so he would have a chance, they would

3:37:36 to 3:37:57( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: have a chance to play with them. that's just the kind of guy that ted was, much softer side than what we see, had seen so many times with ted with the passionate debate and what not. lastly, let me say that another story, i was going down to speak

3:37:58 to 3:38:18( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: to a society in savannah that has the secondest largest st. patrick's day parade in the united states. it 1,000 folks at the dinner. you go in and you tell jokes. well, i needed a bunch jokes. so i called up ted and told him

3:38:19 to 3:38:39( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: what i was doing and i said i know you must have a become of irish jokes. he said, send it to you and he said, i tell you something else, in savannah that's a very conservative part of the world. you are going to see in these jokes that you will have an opportunity to point

3:38:40 to 3:39:01( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: somebody to kind of poke fun at and when you have an in telling these jokes you use my name. well, i took him i did and boy did i ever get a irish men in savannah, georgia

3:39:02 to 3:39:23( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: so i have fond memories of this man who came from a difficulty different part of the country, a different political background from where i come and somebody who certainly had much political experience than i will ever have but the thing i appreciated in ted kennedy was and i have said this often, he

3:39:24 to 3:39:45( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: was the best legislator in this body. when ted kennedy told you something, you could take it to the bank. you thereafter. while we disagreed on many things, we agreed on some things and were able to work together in a very unusual way and even when we disagreed we were able to walk out of this chamber and

3:39:46 to 3:40:07( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: still be friends. to vicky and patrick and the children, ted was a great american, a great guy, and he is going to be missed in this body. he was a lot of us and we're going to miss that compromising aspect of

3:40:08 to 3:40:10( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: ted kennedy that won't be here even though someone else will