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105th Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - - - - - Senate Document 105-031
Wendell H. Ford
U.S. SENATOR FROM KENTUCKY
TRIBUTES
IN THE CONGRESS OF
THE UNITED STATES
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
S. Doc. 105-31
Tributes
Delivered in Congress
Wendell H. Ford
United States Senator
1974-1998
---
Compiled under the direction
of the
Secretary of the Senate
by the
Office of Printing and Document Services
CONTENTS
Biography............................................. vii
Proceedings in the Senate:
Tributes by Senators:
Boxer, Barbara, of California.................. 40
Burns, Conrad, of Montana...................... 19
Byrd, Robert C., of West Virginia............ 6, 21
Daschle, Tom, of South Dakota............ 4, 14, 26
Staff letter................................ 15
Domenici, Pete V., of New Mexico............... 25
Dorgan, Byron L., of North Dakota........... 13, 24
Glenn, John, of Ohio........................... 1
Gramm, Rod, of Minnesota....................... 25
Inouye, Daniel K., of Hawaii................... 31
Kempthorne, Dirk, of Idaho..................... 23
Lautenberg, Frank R., of New Jersey............ 18
Leahy, Patrick J., of Vermont.................. 39
Levin, Carl, of Maine.......................... 16
Lott, Trent, of Mississippi................. 14, 34
McCain, John, of Arizona....................... 12
McConnell, Mitch, of Kentucky.................. 10
Nickles, Don, of Oklahoma...................... 17
Sessions, Jeff, of Alabama..................... 33
Stevens, Ted, of Alaska........................ 11
Thurmond, Strom, of South Carolina............. 15
Farewell address of Senator Wendell H. Ford........ 41
Order for printing of individual Senate documents.. 44
Newspaper Articles and Editorials:
Seniority Bites, Roll Call......................... 47
Ford Helped Shape N. Ky., Cincinnati Enquirer...... 48
Senator Ford Announces He Will Retire; Fourth-Term
Kentucky Democrat Voices Distaste for Fund-
Raising Process, Washington Post................. 50
Pragmatism, Personal Skills Boosted Ford, Courier-
Journal.......................................... 51
Democrats Pay Tribute to Senator Ford; Vice
President Joins Thousands To Offer Praise,
Courier-Journal.................................. 53
BIOGRAPHY
Wendell H. Ford, Kentucky's senior U.S. Senator has
served in the Senate since December 28, 1974. Now in his
fourth Senate term, Ford holds the position of assistant
Democratic leader. First elected to the post in 1990, he
was reelected without opposition to serve in that capacity
for the 105th Congress.
Ford's career spans over a quarter of a century in
elective office. He began as a Kentucky State senator in
1965 and was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1967. Four
years later, he became the Commonwealth's 49th Governor.
Currently in his 24th year in the Senate, Ford has risen
to 12th out of 100 members in overall seniority and ranks
7th among Democrats in the 105th Congress. In 1992, he
made Kentucky history when he received the largest number
of votes ever recorded by a candidate for elected office
in the Commonwealth. Prior to his last election, he was
reelected by overwhelming margins in 1980 and 1986. On
March 14, 1998, Ford became Kentucky's longest serving
U.S. Senator, breaking the mark held by Alben W. Barkley.
Over the years, Ford has become known as a staunch
supporter of the economic interests of Kentucky and as a
national leader on energy, aviation, Federal-election
reform and other issues. He has shaped such legislation as
the National Voter Registration Act, the Federal Aviation
Administration Authorization Act of 1994, the Family and
Medical Leave Act, the National Energy Security Act of
1992, the Aviation Safety and Capacity Act of 1990, the
Airport and Airways Capacity Expansion Act of 1987, the
Age Discrimination in Employment Act Amendments of 1986,
the Tobacco Reform Act of 1985, the Energy Security Act of
1977 and the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of the
same year.
He has taken the lead in many other legislative
initiatives, including a long and persistent drive to
adopt a 2-year budget as a tool to improve the Federal
Government's trouble-plagued budget-making process.
Ford is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on
Rules and Administration, where he has pressed for
campaign-finance reform, improved voter registration
procedures
and other measures to increase voter participation in
Federal elections. He has also worked for a number of
procedural changes to make the Senate a more efficient
body.
As past chairman of the Joint Committee on Printing,
Ford was successful in cutting millions of dollars from
the cost of government printing operations overseen by the
Committee. He also introduced the first-ever program for
the use of recycled printing paper by the Federal
Government, which purchases over 486,000 tons of paper
annually.
As a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science
and Transportation, Ford is the ranking member of its
Aviation Subcommittee and serves on the subcommittees
dealing with consumer and communication issues. He has
also been instrumental in expanding airport-improvement
programs and has taken a leading role in addressing
airport noise policy, aging aircraft, pilot education and
other critical aviation issues.
Ford also serves on the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources which deals with complex issues touching on all
aspects of energy policy. He is ranking member of the
Energy Research and Development subcommittee, and serves
on the Water and Power and Mineral Resources Development
and Production subcommittees. He has worked successfully
to increase Federal support for clean-coal technologies to
strengthen the coal industry, lessen the Nation's
dangerous dependence on foreign oil and protect the
environment. He spearheaded legislation to create a
government owned corporation for our Federal uranium-
enrichment enterprise which holds many important economic
and national-security implications for Kentucky and the
Nation.
Ford's recent accomplishments on behalf of Kentucky
include helping negotiate a buyout of tobacco surpluses
and putting in place a mechanism to decrease imported
tobacco. He gained Federal support for the Advanced
Science and Technology Commercialization Center and also
the International Trade Development Center at the
University of Kentucky. He also was successful in securing
authorization for Kentucky communities to band together to
float $370 million in community-improvement bond issues.
As a believer in strong defense, he has played a leading
role in protecting the National Guard and military
installations in the Commonwealth. He has also worked to
improve the transportation infrastructure in the
Commonwealth and open new export markets for Kentucky
products.
Long active in Democratic politics, Ford served as
chairman of the National Democratic Governors Caucus in
1973-74 and chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign
Committee from 1976 to 1982.
Ford is a believer in community service and was named
one of the three Outstanding Young Men in Kentucky. He
served as State president of the Kentucky Jaycees and
later as national Jaycees president and international vice
president. He has received the highest service awards from
both the March of Dimes and the Boy Scouts. He has been
honored by the U.S. National Guard Association, and has
also received special commendations from the Veterans of
Foreign Wars and the American Legion for his continuing
service to veterans and their dependents. In addition, he
has received special recognition for his continuing
support of Kentucky Educational Television, the Kentucky
Housing Corporation, the Kentucky Council of Area
Development Districts, the National Association of
Regional Councils and numerous other awards.
Ford was born in Thruston, KY, on September 8, 1924. He
graduated from Daviess County High School in Owensboro and
later attended the University of Kentucky. He served in
the U.S. Army in 1945-46 and in the Kentucky Army National
Guard for 13 years.
He is married to the former Jean Neel of Owensboro, and
they have two children and five grandchildren.
TRIBUTES
to
WENDELL H. FORD
Proceedings in the Senate
Friday, March 13, 1998.
Mr. GLENN. Mr. President, earlier today Senator Daschle,
our minority leader, made some remarks in tribute to the
longest-serving Senator from Kentucky to serve in the U.S.
Senate, and that is Wendell Ford, our minority whip.
I wanted to add my words of congratulations, in
recognition of this person that I believe to be one of our
most outstanding U.S. Senators. He is a very dedicated
public servant. He is also a good personal friend. He is
the senior Senator from Kentucky, Wendell Ford. I don't
think it is any accident that the people of Kentucky have
returned Wendell time after time, one election after
another, to where he now has served here almost a quarter
of a century.
Wendell, of course, is a very personable person. He
likes people. I think that was evidenced early in his
career when I believe he was national president of the
Jaycees. Later on, the people of Kentucky, after having
elected him Governor for a term, then elected him to the
U.S. Senate. He has served them well here over the last
nearly quarter of a century. I had the honor and privilege
to serve alongside him for all that time since he came to
the Senate. He and I were sworn in at about the same time,
and for the first few years we were here, by the luck of
the draw, we sat side by side in the Senate Chamber. That
was back in the time period when we had many all-night
sessions, and you got to know a person pretty well when
you sat and shared views with them during some of those
extended debates and lengthy all-night sessions.
Wendell is certainly known for his wit and humor. I
remember once we were sitting here about 3:30 or 4 o'clock
in the morning and a debate was going on. Wendell nudged
me and said, ``You know, John, the people back home think
we are the ones that won.'' I got a kick out of that. We
were going through some very troubled times in the U.S.
Senate at that time.
The Senate class of 1974 was one that I think was
remarkable not only because I happened to be one of those
people but because it came in on the tail-end of
Watergate. Watergate played an issue in that year's
election. But the people we elected that year included a
number of outstanding public officials who would continue
illustrious public careers, including John Culver, Robert
Morgan, Paul Laxalt, James Jake Garn, Gary Hart, and four
Senators still serving--myself and Senators Ford, Bumpers,
and Leahy. With the announced retirements that we have
already, Senator Leahy will be the only representative out
of that class of 1974 still remaining at the end of this
year.
The distinguished Senator from Kentucky, Senator Ford,
has served on the Senate Rules Committee for many years,
been chairman and ranking member. He became an expert on
disputed elections quite early on in his service, because
one of the first issues that that class of 1974 faced in
the Senate was the disputed election in New Hampshire
between John Durkin and Louis Wyman. In that case, the
Senate determined that a new election was necessary. So
Wendell got tossed into that maelstrom of disputed
elections very early on. I say that hasn't ended through
all these years either, because even during this last year
he worked toward a successful solution in the Louisiana
election dispute.
I can say without any contradiction that Senator Ford is
truly a Senator's Senator. He is rarely on the floor
making long speeches and posturing before the camera. That
is rare. In fact, he never does that. But his voice is
heard. His influence is heard on almost all issues,
because the Senate, his fellow Senators on the Democratic
side, sought at this time to elect him as our whip, our
No. 2 person in the hierarchy of leadership in the Senate.
I think Senator Ford would appreciate the fact, coming
from Kentucky--and I have heard him make comments about
the horses, and all of his attention to the horses in
Kentucky, and the big business that is in Kentucky, and
his attention to things like the Kentucky Derby and so on.
But he would appreciate it that we know him as a
``workhorse,'' not just as a show horse, here in the U.S.
Senate. He is always working behind the scenes for
whatever the interests are of the party or his interests
for Kentucky. And he has provided strong leadership in his
ability as a negotiator and his talents for finding
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