May 7, 1980
Page 10341
A TRIBUTE TO EDMUND MUSKIE IN SUPPORT OF HIS NOMINATION AS SECRETARY OF STATE
Mr. BRADLEY. Mr. President, as colleagues who have worked closely with President Carter's nominee as Secretary of State, we know better than does anyone else how fortunate the President is to have won the services of the very distinguished senior Senator from Maine. A moment's reflection on his character and career tells you that he is the right choice during these difficult times. I personally take great comfort in knowing that the wisdom, insight and energy Senator Muskie has demonstrated time and again in the interest of responsible legislation in the Senate will now be available to our Nation's foreign policy formulation and implementation.
During my year in the Senate, there is no Senator I have come to respect more for his clear thinking, judgment, and courage than Senator MUSKIE. Senator MUSKIE has been an outstanding legislator in the U.S. Senate generally — but he particularly has demonstrated his flair for sagacious leadership as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and I would like to note that during our current deliberations on the setting of Federal budgetary priorities, we suffer a great loss by his absence from the debate.
As chairman of the Budget Committee, Senator MUSKIE has shown time and again his ability to meet the challenges of reconciling competing points of views — all of which lay claim to considerable merit, but all of which cannot be accommodated simultaneously. This is precisely the sort of problem that the formulation of foreign policy repeatedly presents, posing the need to weigh priorities, exercise judgment with a view for the long term and the whole, and then defend that judgment in a way that builds consensus in the Nation, rather than disappointment and dissent.
In endeavors demanding leadership, Senator MUSKIE excels. He has an instinct for the broader view and the wise course. He has a talent for careful deliberation, informed choice, followed by articulate spokesmanship and purposeful implementation. In short, he has precisely the qualities which greatly need to be brought to bear on U.S. foreign policy.
With Senator MUSKIE as Secretary of State, I have hope that we will enter a period of opportunity in difficult times, rather than one of despair. No one is better suited to bring America's image in the world to a high point of strength, leadership and integrity than our colleague, and I offer him my support and cooperation during his tenure.