April 29, 1980
Page 9239
THE NOMINATION OF SENATOR MUSKIE TO BE SECRETARY OF STATE
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, it was announced this afternoon that our friend and colleague, EDMUND MUSKIE, is being nominated for the Office of Secretary of State.
I greet this announcement with genuine mixed feelings. EDMUND MUSKIE's nomination to this important office is a great plus for this country in this time of international crisis. It is a plus for this administration, and it will add stature to this administration, and any administration can stand to have a little stature added to it.
But it comes as a loss for the U.S. Senate. EDMUND MUSKIE has been a stalwart of energetic stewardship. He represents the high watermark of dedication to duty, and he has proved himself to be a statesman during his more than two decades in this body.
I wholeheartedly endorse his nomination as Secretary of State. It will be the Senate's loss. I have more and more come to lean upon Senator MUSKIE in helping to forge the programs, expedite the legislative process, and carry out the work of the U.S. Senate.
As the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Senator MUSKIE has provided the kind of disciplined leadership that had to be given for that process to succeed. In that leadership he had the close companionship of HENRY BELLMON, and those two men provided a team, a bipartisan team, that demonstrated not only the skill that was necessary to steer the budget process successfully, but also the teamwork, the cooperation, and the supreme dedication to duty that were necessary.
Senator MUSKIE is known for his courage, for his ability, and for his keen foresight, for the capability that he has to cut through the maze of the most difficult problem and come out with a reasonable, rational, workable solution.
He is also known as a man who speaks up for his convictions. Nobody will push him around. He will be a supreme servant as he serves as a member of the President's Cabinet. He will speak his mind. He will give his sincere and conscientious advice, and the Senate can be sure that at last there is a man in this administration who understands the Senate, who understands the legislative process, who understands the importance of the Federal relationship and the State relationship, he having served as Governor of the State of Maine.
If there is a man who understands the importance of a good working relationship between the executive and the legislative branch, it is ED MUSKIE. I have heard much talk about personalities who appear to dominate here or there or within the administration.
Mr. President, Senator MUSKIE is not an individual who will attempt to dominate anyone, but he is not an individual who will be dominated.
He will express his viewpoint clearly, and he will not be reticent in giving advice to the President, in saying what he, Mr. MUSKIE, thinks.
I am sorry to see him leave the Senate, but in the overall good interests of the Nation in these critical times, I think the Nation will be well served by the nomination and appointment of ED
MUSKIE.
It is difficult to find enough words of praise for this man who has been a rock of reason as this Senate has undertaken some of the most controversial and perplexing problems in its history.
It was ED MUSKIE who helped to bring more than a measure of fiscal responsibility to the way we allocate the taxpayers' money. As chairman of the Budget Committee he took a process that some said could work, some said would not work, and helped to make it operate.
I have already referred to his ability to develop bipartisan support, and it is this same ability that is necessary at the helm of the Department of State. A bipartisan foreign policy gives our Nation a single, unified voice in dealing with those who would be our enemies as well as those who would be our allies.
I know that ED MUSKIE will place his individual stamp on foreign policy just as he has on fiscal policy.
He is no stranger to foreign policy. He has served on the Committee on Foreign Relations. He has traveled throughout the world representing his views and those of the Nation to foreign leaders. He has a national constituency. He served on Senator Mansfield's Southeast Asia mission in 1966, and he observed later that our experience in Indochina had been a tragic demonstration that our foreign policy affects us no less than it affects others.
I believe the following words, quoted from EDMUND MUSKIE, serve to demonstrate the strength his leadership will bring to his new job :
In a world where distrust and hostility still run deep, where the aims of nations continue to differ in fundamental respects, we should be prepared to resist the threat or use of force, but we must also be prepared to exercise the wisdom, moderation, and restraint which are necessary if man is to create the conditions for peace.
Mr. President, I congratulate President Carter on his choice of ED MUSKIE to serve as Secretary of State. Indeed, here is a man who is capable, who has the qualifications and the ability to serve as President of the United States. I believe that for the office of Secretary of State Senator MUSKIE is the right man, for the right job, at the right time.
Mr. BAKER addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
Mr. BAKER. Mr. President, I rise to express my pleasure at the President's choice of a new Secretary of State.
I have known ED MUSKIE for all of the years that I have served in the Senate. He has been more than my colleague here. Our association has been close and cordial — at times, fiery — but it has always been my pleasure to serve with him. My admiration for him has grown with the years. He is a distinguished Senator and a man who will serve President Carter with distinction as the new Secretary of State.
Mr. President, ED MUSKIE's appointment will be a loss to the Senate, but I think that it will be a great gain for the country.
In the years that I have known Senator MUSKIE, I have come to know him as a man of conviction, of energy, of dedication, of candor and honesty, and of great skill.
He understands the Senate. He understands this country and its political process. He will contribute something of real value to the Department of State and to the President in his new position of service.
Mr. President, I take this opportunity to congratulate our colleague and my friend ED MUSKIE, to express my gratitude to the President for a wise selection, and to look forward to a favorable relationship between this body and the executive department in matters of foreign policy under the leadership of Secretary of State ED MUSKIE.
Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, it has come to my attention that a Member of this Senate has just been nominated for the position of Secretary of State by the President of the United States. I am referring to the Honorable EDMUND MUSKIE of the State of Maine.
Senator MUSKIE is recognized as being one of the most effective Members of this body and has had that reputation for many years. I know that he will do a fine job in this capacity.
He approaches every job he takes with vigor, with a close inspection, and he studies every problem before he reaches a decision on it.
So at this time I congratulate the President on his wise choice of the new Secretary of State.
Mr. RIEGLE. Will the senator yield?
Mr. HEFLIN. I yield to the Senator from Michigan.
Mr. RIEGLE. I thank the Senator for yielding.
I join the Senator in commenting about the news that has just come over the two wire service tickers that indicate that our colleague, Senator MUSKIE from Maine, is being nominated by the President to be the new Secretary of State. I speak as one who has served here now 31/2 years and has had the privilege to be a member of the Senate Budget Committee and to have worked directly with our chairman, Senator MUSKIE.
As is well known by all of my colleagues, he is a tremendous human being, first, above all other things. His talent and skill in guiding that committee and the approach he brings to all issues — foreign policy and domestic policy — is really second to none in terms of all the Members of the Senate.
I think his appointment is clearly a gain for the Carter administration. I think he brings the kind of seasoned and wise counsel that our country needs at this point and can well use.
I know that I will feel a greater sense of confidence about decisions in the foreign policy area that may be upcoming knowing that ED MUSKIE will be in the center of that decision process.
I also think that it is important to note, with respect to ED MUSKIE, that one of his most distinguishing characteristics is his independence of mind. Clearly, he is his own man. And I think because of that he is probably the most valuable kind cf adviser the President could hope to have.
It is obvious to those of us who know and have worked with ED MUSKIE that he will offer judgments exactly as he sees them. He is a person who clearly calls things exactly as they are.
And that quality which is so much admired here in the Senate will be something that will, I think prove to be an even greater service to the President and to our Nation. So the gain for the administration is at the same time a loss for this institution.
When I think of this Senate without ED MUSKIE as a Member, it is very difficult to contemplate, because I think he is as esteemed and exceptional a human being and public servant as has been my privilege to meet and to know.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. What is the will of the Senate?
Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. STEVENSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. SCHMITT). Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. STEVENSON. Mr. President, I was delighted to hear the news of the President's intention to nominate our friend and colleague, Senator MUSKIE, for Secretary of State. Senator MUSKIE is well qualified to be the Nation's Secretary of State at this difficult time in its history. He will be a worthy successor to Cyrus Vance. His very presence in the office will reassure the world about the steadiness of our course, the restraint with which the United States exercises its power in the world, and the humanity of our national purpose. I commend the President for his decision and urge him to give the new Secretary of State the authority with which to conduct American policy with a single voice.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. STEVENSON). Without objection it is so ordered.
Mr. MOYNIHAN addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.
Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, it was just a quarter of a century ago that, as a young aide to the Governor of New York, it fell to me to provide the newly elected Governor of Maine and his wife Jane what was then the highest gift available to a Governor of that State, to a distinguished official visiting, which was two tickets to "My Fair Lady."
Mr. President, I only wish that a quarter of a century later there was some comparable accolade, some substance of reference, of awe and respect that I could, in some way, be part of presenting to our colleague and friend and leader, EDMUND MUSKIE of Maine.
That was the year he was elected Governor of Maine, marking a change in the political climate of the Nation, no less than the Northeast.
For a quarter of a century he has been a leader of his party and of his region and of the issues which have commanded his extraordinary competence and energy, his unfailing attention to detail, and his massive granite-like integrity.
The Senate loses a great Member. But, at a time when persons have asked what has happened to leadership of this country and wondered whether crisis can, in fact, bring it forth, how quickly we are reminded that there are such people in this land, and not just this land but the Nation is better for it.
I join my colleagues in this tribute and ask only plaintively: How is the first concurrent budget resolution to be passed in his absence?
Mr. RANDOLPH addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
(Mr. MOYNIHAN assumed the chair.)
Mr. RANDOLPH. Mr. President, perhaps the comment I shall make should incorporate the statement that has been released from our office in reference to the formal announcement to be made by the President of the United States at 5 o'clock of his nomination of EDMUND MUSKIE to be Secretary of State.
President Carter's selection of EDMUND MUSKIE for Secretary of State will receive deserved approval by his Senate colleagues. He is the ranking majority member of the Environment and Public Works Committee. His constructive leadership is recognized not only at home but abroad.
I firmly believe that the choice made by the President for this highly sensitive position, especially at this time, is commendable. ED MUSKIE has my complete confidence.
ED MUSKIE has other important committee assignments in this body. The Budget Committee is an assignment for which he has assiduously done the spadework which perhaps no other Senator, regardless of political background, could have done as well.
I noted that the able Senator from New York (Mr. MOYNIHAN) referred to "My Fair Lady."
I make reference to ED MUSKIE as having been elected first to the U.S. Senate in September of 1958. Maine gets the jump on other States with the election of its Senator in September rather than in November.
I was the Democratic nominee, in 1958, for the short term for the U.S. Senate and the esteemed majority leader, Senator ROBERT C. BYRD, was the candidate for a full term. We were elected on the same date, but I was sworn in by the Secretary of the Senate in November.
I asked ED MUSKIE, former Maine governor and the new Senator, if he could come into West Virginia and campaign for me. I wanted to win that contest; factually, ED helped me to win it.
I express my thanks to him again, as I have over and over, for his having come in 1958 into the hill country of West Virginia.
It is important for me, in connection with the discussion of his coming to West Virginia in 1958, to emphasize that Senator MUSKIE came again in 1978 to help me. ED MUSKIE was back on the campaign trail in our country of mountains and valleys and among people that are rather decisive in their decisions. I am, of course, very grateful of that later service to my return to the Senate.
Mr. President, what I stress, however, is from the standpoint of our committee. My responsibility is chairing the Environment and Public Works Committee of eight Democrats and six Republicans. We do not have in that committee a surfacing of politics. This is a known fact.
Partisan considerations are not involved. There are the differences which occur. Sometimes they are very deep differences.
Members of the committee have differed with ED MUSKIE as he has chaired our Environmental Pollution Subcommittee. But there are times when our differences have later been our strengths.
Why do I say that? Because ED MUSKIE never closed the books. He was ready to continue to talk the subject through. For those of differing points of view with his, often it was not a matter of losing a point to them or accommodating himself. He was very anxious to see if some consensus could not be brought into being that would be fruitful for the committee and ultimately in the passage of legislation in the Senate.
HOWARD BAKER, the helpful minority leader, has just spoken, and the Senator is a member of our committee, and what I am saying would be echoed by him and other members of the committee who serve with ED MUSKIE.
ED MUSKIE will succeed Cyrus Vance, a native West Virginian, in this challenging post. I have known Cy Vance, his mother and father, and family over many years. We come from the same county of Harrison. The hallmark of Cy's service has been his earnest efforts to achieve peace. His convictions on how best to do this have been strong. His public service has been of a high order.
ED MUSKIE must now carry on.
It has been a privilege for Mary, my wife, to know Jane and ED very, very well. We recall the recurring visits he has made to West Virginia, addressing our Democratic conventions, especially of the young people. This service has been of tremendous value. He came not only with winning or helping us to win an election, per se, but he came always as an advocate, to discuss the important issues of that particular time — and as a Vice Presidential candidate.
Certainly in the ensuing days, we will not only be faced with but we will be asked to solve, at least in part, very critical and crucial problems in this country. The commitments we make to our colleague as individual Senators will not be made because, "Well, I respect or I like ED." That is not enough. ED would want us to work with him as he worked with us in the Senate, and now with the President of the United States. He will be the strong man but always the man of understanding. This must accompany, as I see it, any truly strong man who, in his own right and joined by others, has the qualities of national leadership.
ED MUSKIE is a manly man.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. MELCHER) . The Senator from Ohio.
Mr. METZENBAUM. Mr. President, I rise to add my comments to those heretofore made in connection with the appointment of Senator MUSKIE to be Secretary of State for the administration.
I want to say that it is a superb appointment. It is an appointment that unquestionably will be looked upon with approval not only by all Americans but by those in the international community with whom Senator MUSKIE will be dealing. Senator MUSKIE's experience and background qualify him for this position.
As I rise to commend the administration, Mr. President, for making this appointment, I must also point out that the administration's gain is the Senate's loss, and not alone the Senate but the country as a whole.
I believe very strongly, Mr. President, that it will be very difficult to find someone with the character, the quality, the concern, the one-mindedness with respect to balancing the budget which ED MUSKIE possessed.
ED MUSKIE conducted the Budget Committee, a committee on which I have only served for a short time, in a manner that was fair to all, a very open manner. He never tried to railroad his position through. When he lost, he was always a gentleman about it. And when he lost with respect to a position that he advocated in the committee, he was always prepared to come to the floor of the Senate, and regularly did come to the floor of the Senate, to defend the position of the committee, not the position of Senator ED MUSKIE.
He was indeed a rare chairman. He was a man who had a kind of objectivity. He was a man who could be as strong and as powerful and fight as vigorously for his point of view as any other Member of this body. But he always did so with grace, with consideration for the views of others.
He also had another side to him besides that side which provided a sense of vigor and determination for his point of view. That was the side of being willing to listen to the other person's point of view.
I found it to be a privilege to have the opportunity of serving with him on the Budget Committee. His chairmanship will be difficult to replace. His shoes will be large ones to fill.
Although I commend the President for that which I originally described as a superb appointment, I cannot stress loudly enough and strongly enough what a great loss it is to this body, what a great loss it is to those of us who have a concern about balancing the budget, what a great loss it is to the entire Nation. But in one sense, the Nation loses while in another sense it gains. I wish Senator MUSKIE great and good health and success in his new undertaking. I am confident he will acquit himself well.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
Mr. GOLDWATER. Mr. President, I wish to express myself concerning two gentlemen: One, Cyrus Vance, who retired from the office of Secretary of State on yesterday. Although Mr. Vance and I disagreed occasionally, I do not think I have ever know a more gentle and kinder man. In fact, if he had any weakness at all, he was too much of a gentle man. But I believe that to be an attribute.
We are going to miss him. I wish him well in whatever endeavors he undertakes.
Mr. President, the President has announced that he has appointed Senator ED MUSKIE to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Mr. Vance. I join my other colleagues who have stood on the floor and told of their high regard for the Senator. I have known him for a good many years. I believe his experience on the Foreign Policy Committee, his experience as having run for the President of the United States — but more than those things, Mr. President, his complete honesty, his tremendous strength — will bear him well in a position that has become a rather difficult position.
I hope my remarks are taken in the proper way. For some years now, our Presidents have had serving in the White House with them advisers on foreign policy.
Mr. President, I cannot say that I disapprove of the idea of a President being able to have an adviser on any subject, but I have grave question, Mr. President, when we have Secretaries of our Cabinet, who are supposed to provide the President with precisely that kind of help and information, being outranked, so to speak, by somebody on the National Security Council. I have lived through the days of watching one adviser to a President overcome the ability of a Secretary of State.
I am not suggesting for one moment that we have just witnessed a repetition of that happening, but I do think it is time, Mr. President, that this body decide whether or not a person appointed — not voted on by this body or by the public, but a person appointed by a President to serve as his foreign policy adviser — supersedes the decisions of the Secretary of State. If that is going to be the case, then we had better do away with one or the other.
I hope, with all the hope I have in me, that Senator MUSKIE is not going to suffer what his predecessors have suffered — namely, being overridden, downgraded, worked around by a man who was appointed by a President without any consultation with the Senate. In the case of Senator MUSKIE, he is going to have to receive the advice and consent of the Senate before he can become the Secretary of State.
Let me conclude, Mr. President, by saying again that I have tremendous confidence in the willpower, the mental strength, and the physical strength of this man to stand up to any challenges that come his way. Should the challenges be of a nature that might be embarrassing to him, I think the embarrassment might return twofold to the source. As I have told Senator MUSKIE, I wish him only the best and I have offered my services to him in any way that I can serve him.
In fact, in a jocular way, Mr. President, I reminded him of the presence of this other gentleman in the White House who might give him some trouble. He said, "Senator, I remind you that I am a Pole, also."
I said, "Senator MUSKIE, I am part Polish myself, so that makes it two to one, and I think the two of us can hack the job."
I thank the Chair.
Mr. TSONGAS. Mr. President, I want to add my voice to those who stood up and commended the President on his choice of Secretary of State. I think it reflects well on all parties.
I was very concerned when Secretary Vance left. I was concerned that a voice for moderation, a voice for a larger perspective, would be lost when Cyrus Vance stepped down, since I consider him one of the most decent, knowledgeable people who has served in this city and in this country. I was concerned that his replacement would be someone who was easily led, someone who would be reticent about providing a perspective that would, perhaps, be different. In the choice of ED MUSKIE, the President has shown that he is willing to have a debate in the Cabinet, willing to have someone of outside stature take over that position. I think it says a great deal about the President's capacity to if you will, open up the doors of debate. I commend him for it.
I also wish to say that it is an excellent choice as to the individual. I am a new Member here, relatively speaking, and one of the people that I respect the most and whom I look to for leadership is Senator MUSKIE. I regret that he will not be here to see that through. Obviously, in this case, what is good for the Senate may not be good for the country and, obviously, the country is the larger perspective.
Mr. President, I commend Senator GOLDWATER on his comments vis-a-vis the future and the whole question of who really runs foreign policy in this country, whether it is the Secretary of State or the National Security Adviser. I want to associate myself with the remarks made by the distinguished senior Senator from Arizona. That is something that I think we should all follow very carefully. If there is anyone in this body who knows how to fend for himself and speak his mind, it is ED MUSKIE. I think we, the President, and the country are better off for the President's decision. I wish them well.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. RIBICOFF. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. RIBICOFF. Mr. President, President Carter has made an excellent choice to be Secretary of State. The Nation has been downcast with the international news of late. Now comes an event which gives us an upbeat just when we need it. Senator ED MUSKIE will be an outstanding Secretary of State.
I have known and respected ED MUSKIE for many years. We were both elected Governors of our States in 1954. When I came to the Senate in 1963, my friend ED MUSKIE, had already been here for a few years, starting to build a reputation that has made him a leader in our midst and a statesman.
ED MUSKIE is a man of both breadth and depth. He understands the United States, both as it is and as it could be at home and abroad. He has been a fighter for a better nation, and every Senator knows that when you have ED MUSKIE on your side you stand tall. The United States has a tenacious, intelligent, and respected man with the legislative perspective and executive skill and experience in foreign affairs.
We are reinforced by a strong leader who will represent our national interest all over the globe.
Mr. President, what wonderful news for this Nation. I will miss him dearly in this Senate. But I can think of no better American to bring together our foreign policy and serve us in troubled times than ED MUSKIE of Maine.
Mr. CRANSTON. Mr. President, I rise to applaud the nomination of Senator ED MUSKIE to be Secretary of State. It is a very fine nomination of a great Senator who also has background in an executive capacity, having served as Governor of the great State of Maine. Senator MUSKIE is also a man with a deep interest in foreign policy, having served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I am sure that ED MUSKIE will be as dedicated to the constructive and sound management of foreign policy as anyone who has ever held the post of Secretary of State.
ED MUSKIE will afford a tremendous opportunity to each and every one of us for the best possible relations between the State Department and the U.S. Congress — a strong working relationship that will serve our country well at this time of danger and challenge in foreign policy.
Senator MUSKIE is a man of great personal strength. He will be a Secretary who will support, as he has always supported, a strong America. He is also a man of peace.
I am heartened by the fact that we will have as a successor to a man I have deemed a fine Secretary of State, Secretary Cyrus Vance, a man who will do his utmost to insure we have the best possible relations with all nations. As Secretary of State, ED MUSKIE will seek, I am sure, to restore a more stable, working relationship with the Soviet Union, so important in this time of great tension in the world.
Senator MUSKIE was a member of the informal working group on SALT that I have led here in the Senate.
I am confident that as Secretary of State ED MUSKIE will share his predecessor's belief in the vast importance of achieving more effective arms control in a world where a nuclear confrontation would be so utterly catastrophic.
For many, many reasons beyond those I have mentioned, I wish to express my delight that a truly great Member of this body and a great American will be at the helm of our country's foreign policy.
Mr. STENNIS. Mr. President, I learned, maybe an hour ago, about the appointment of our colleague, the Senator from Maine, to this highly important and responsible position of Secretary of State.
I think he will be outstanding in this office, in a highly critical time. It will be hard, though, for him to make a finer contribution in the same length of time than he has made here in another critical situation, particularly since he has been chairman of our Budget Committee, the toughest, hardest job, in many ways, that falls to any of us year after year. But he has taken this very difficult situation and, with his colleagues on that committee, made a real start in a field that is never easy nor popular.
I feel sure that work in which he was such a power has kept us from being in a more difficult position than we are with reference to the financial situation. I certainly am not suggesting that I think that is desperate now, although it is a matter of great concern to me and, I suppose, every Member, coupled with the most far-reaching conditions we have had happen to us in this century, at least, and that is the transition we are going to have to undergo in reference to our energy and energy sources. That, tied to the fact that our financial structure was already under strains, has given us a new kind of very severe test.
I am more and more impressed with the fact that we sailed along all these years with low-priced energy which, in turn, gave us the low-priced food and other essentials that are foundation of any prosperous economy.
With that being true, we attained the highest living standard of any large and populous nation in all history. We must not think it comes that easy any more.
So in these crucial years, Senator MUSKIE's efforts have been very outstanding, very timely.
Perhaps due to his personality, and everything else, blended with his experience, he has done the best job any of us could have done, under these circumstances.
I know, too, that as Secretary of State, there is a world of confidence in this body in the man, MUSKIE, and that itself is a long, long way toward the strength to make continued attainments by him, with his fine dedication and his splendid mind.
I commend the President for this selection, but I greatly regret to see Senator MUSKIE lost from the Senate. I look forward to someone else developing the position, and I know that will happen.
As a fellow Senator and as a personal friend, I admire Senator MUSKIE for his qualities of character. I will try to say to him in an even better way the attachments I have and my appreciation for what he has done.
I am proud that I can point to him for the benefit of every young lady and young man in the Nation who might be thinking of a public career. I can point to ED MUSKIE as one whom they can safely emulate and safely pattern themselves after, and they can take the substance of his wise counsel most seriously.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, we New Englanders are known sometimes as being both taciturn and reticent to speak about each other. In fact, oft times we will have the conversation limited to discussions of whether we each and severally survive the winters for which New England is infamous.
I think any type of New England reticence falls immediately, however, with news of the impending appointment of our distinguished colleague and friend from the State of Maine, EDMUND MUSKIE, as Secretary of State.
In Vermont, for many years, we have thought of Senator MUSKIE as sort of a third Senator from the State of Vermont.
I recall, as a young college student, first becoming involved in politics, when then Governor MUSKIE and his lovely and charming wife, Jane, would come to the State of Vermont and help out our fledgling Democratic Party of Vermont, which usually consisted of a half-dozen or so people who would meet the MUSKIES at the airport. It would be the same half-dozen or so who would show up at other places, because that was all the party we had.
He and Mrs. Muskie had a way of generating large crowds of Democrats and Republicans in Vermont during the time he was Governor because of his very real understanding and compassion and true sense of feeling for the people of our State and the people of his State.
When then-Governor MUSKIE was elected to the U.S. Senate, I recall the excitement in the State of Vermont and the pleasure we felt because he had been elevated to this body.
Upon being elected, as the first member of my party, to the U.S. Senate from the State of Vermont, I recall the sense of pride I had, knowing that I would be serving in the same body with ED MUSKIE, a man I had grown to know and love and respect throughout all those years before.
My respect for Senator MUSKIE has grown immeasurably every year I have been in the Senate. A year and a half ago, my wife and I were privileged to travel in China with Senator and Mrs. MUSKIE, in a delegation he led. I recall, in one rather ticklish situation after another, how well he represented the United States of America.
This was before normalization of relations with China. He was in truth our Ambassador during that trip. He was in truth our Secretary of State during that trip.
It was a bipartisan delegation led by him, and we constantly heard from Members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle, how proud and how pleased they were that Senator MUSKIE was leading their delegation, because they felt that none among us could so well speak for this country that we love and admire.
I recall another time going with Senator MUSKIE on a trip that resulted in one of my proudest moments as a Member of the Senate, and that was to attend the installation of Pope John Paul II.
It was a delegation led by Senator MUSKIE, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and Speaker O'NEILL.
I must admit to just one caveat at this point. I think that most people would realize that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. O'NEILL, and I, by our names, have a certain Irish ancestry. We were going over for the installation of a Polish Pope. That was the only time I have seen Senator MUSKIE take advantage of people. He and Mr. Brzezinski, with their Polish backgrounds, ganged up on the defenseless Speaker of the House and me on the whole trip over and on the trip back.
There was no question, when the Pope came down, that he knew who was Polish in that delegation and who was not, and who was to be treated with the utmost respect, and who were the bag carriers.
But I will forgive Senator MUSKIE that one transgression. Had it been an Irish Pope, I would have done the same to Senator MUSKIE.
In all seriousness, Mr. President, as the distinguished chairman of the Armed Services Committee said a few minutes ago, we are in a difficult time. I think the United States faces one of the most difficult periods ahead that I have known in my adult life. It is a time when we are losing the steady, calming hands of Cyrus Vance, a man to whom this country owes much, a man I admire greatly.
If there ever was a time that the President of the United States should show the utmost care in who he picks to be the Secretary of State, if there ever was a time when the President needed a person who could bring together bipartisan support and a consensus for the direction of the United States, if there ever was a time that the President of the United States needed somebody who would have the respect of our allies and the respect of the President, the respect of Congress, the respect of the administration, and the respect of the American people, that time is now.
There is no better choice the President could have made than that of EDMUND MUSKIE of Maine. As one who has had a chance to know Senator MUSKIE for a number of years, as one who would hope sometime to have even a fraction of Senator MUSKIE's depth and breadth of knowledge and experience in Government, as a fellow New Englander, as a neighbor, as a friend, as another Senator, I applaud the action of our President in appointing Senator MUSKIE.
I think I echo what is felt by every Member of the Senate, Republican and Democrat, when I say how great we feel our loss will be in the U.S. Senate but how comfortable we can feel because of the gain for the United States of America.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Mc-GOVERN). Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, ED MUSKIE has rendered distinguished service to the people of Maine, to his party and the Nation. It is hardly surprising to me that he should continue that service as Secretary of State in a time of national peril and uncertainty. In the past, we have had our disagreements. But as I have said many times over the last few days, these are not times that allow for partisan criticism or headline hunting.
I prefer to forget past differences for present unity. And at a time when a weakened President deserves the understanding of all the American people, it is reassuring to see a man of such stature and judgment as ED MUSKIE named to the most important position in the Cabinet.
The confirmation hearings to come may well afford an opportunity for a number of significant questions to be directed, not only at Senator MUSKIE, but at the President whose foreign policy has justifiably raised concern among many of us. I expect to ask a few myself. But I want to reassert that I have the highest respect and regard for the man whom President Carter has designated to be Secretary of State. I wish ED MUSKIE the very best in grappling with this important and demanding assignment. In confronting the grave challenges that face America — in this, every one of us is unified. That much Senator MUSKIE should know.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, the announcement of President Carter's intention to nominate Senator EDMUND MUSKIE to serve as Secretary of State has already elicited a good deal of comment.
Like my colleagues, I greet this announcement with mixed emotions. I will miss the guidance and knowledge and leadership of the distinguished Senator from Maine as we embark on this year's attempt to make the budget process work. But given the forces operating this year, I can well understand why Senator MUSKIE might prefer to deal with the problems of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf rather than with the problems of a balanced budget and unbalanced needs.
Yet he has dealt with these problems in the past. The budget process as both a principle and a reality will stand as testament to Senator MUSKIE's power and ability in the U.S. Senate. I pray that he will be able now to build another testament in another forum — a testament of peace and harmony in the forum of international affairs.
Mr. President, I believe that Senator MUSKIE brings to the Department of State the skills that it so badly needs in these troubled times: An understanding of the impact of process on policy, an ability to persevere in long and difficult negotiations, a willingness to compromise, and a recognition that on fundamental principles no compromise is possible. Senator MUSKIE brings to the Department the skill of an accomplished politician — and those skills which are badly needed in these times.
This is, as I said, a situation which creates mixed emotions. I regret the resignation of Cyrus Vance and I welcome the nomination of EDMUND MUSKIE. I welcome it because I hope that it will bring with it a closer cooperation between the Congress and the executive branch in developing the policies which affect us all. I shall miss Senator MUSKIE's role in the budget process. but I welcome the role he will play in restoring stability and strength to American foreign policy.
Mr. PELL. Mr. President, I am delighted that my colleague and fellow New Englander, Senator ED MUSKIE, has been chosen by the President to succeed Cyrus Vance as Secretary of State.
Senator MUSKIE has the wisdom, experience, and national outlook necessary to be the senior officer in the Cabinet. The fact that Senator MUSKIE is so highly regarded by his Senate colleagues and has been a successful legislator will make him a valued asset to the President.
Senator MUSKIE and I have worked together for many years as members of the Foreign Relations Committee, and he was one of my predecessors as chairman of the Arms Control Subcommittee. I have always had the greatest respect for Senator MUSKIE's ability, integrity, and devotion to furthering our country's interests around the world. From a purely personal point of view, I am pleased that Senator MUSKIE, with whom I have shared a deep interest in environmental protection, will be our next Secretary of State, because I am convinced that the protection and enhancement of the world's environment will be one of the foremost international issues of the future, and he has the experience and commitment to exercise great leadership in that area.
I believe, too, he will have a steady and peaceful hand on the helm of our ship of State.
I was one of many Members of this body who deeply regretted Cyrus Vance's decision to leave the administration. I fully understand and appreciate the position of principle that impelled Secretary Vance to resign. And, I can think of no finer successor than Senator ED MUSKIE. All of us will miss him in this Chamber, but my best wishes go with him as he takes up his new and awesome responsibilities.
Mr. CANNON. Mr. President, ED MUSKIE and I came to the Senate together in 1958 and since that time have formed a close personal and working relationship. He is one of the Members of this distinguished body whom I most admire and respect, both for his intellect and capabilities as well as for his integrity.
Indeed, Mr. President, my feeling of joy for the Nation which will receive the benefit of his service as Secretary of State is mingled with sorrow for what the Senate will lose with his departure.
ED has left a permanent mark on our Nation through his pioneering efforts in the area of air pollution control. Yet, he has never turned a cold shoulder to me — and other colleagues undoubtedly feel the same way — when I have come to him with problems in my State concerning this legislation. The little town of Ely, Nev., although it has been beset by additional problems with the Environmental Protection Agency since then, will not forget Senator MUSKIE's help in passage of an amendment to the air pollution statutes in 1978 which gave its copper smelter new life.
ED has handled the extremely difficult duties as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee with equal fairness. None of us, I daresay, has escaped the wrath of the chairman over some vital spending measure which threatens damage to the budget ceiling. But whenever such an occasion has arisen, ED has proved reasonable, willing to listen, and open to compromise. There is no one I can think of who could have brought the new budget process to maturity with the expertise and understanding he has displayed.
These are not easy times for the United States in the foreign arena which ED is now joining, but I am confident of his ability to represent our country's interests forthrightly and diligently. He is an able advocate and a tough adversary and we desperately need those qualities in foreign affairs today.
I congratulate the President on his excellent choice and wish ED and his lovely wife, Jane, well in this new endeavor. He will have my prayers and I know those of my colleagues as well.
Mr. STONE. Mr. President, Senator MUSKIE is an excellent choice for Secretary of State. Certainly, his appointment will enhance the relationship between the Congress and the office of Secretary of State, and especially the relationship between the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Secretary.
It is too early to tell what impact Senator MUSKIE's appointment will have on U.S. foreign policy, but he is a knowledgeable, well-experienced public servant in both domestic policy and foreign affairs. I will support his nomination fully and congratulate the President for making such a superb appointment.
Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the various statements with reference to Mr. MUSKIE's nomination to be Secretary of State appear in the RECORD at an appropriate place without interruption by other matters.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I have not spoken about the President's designation of our good friend, Senator MUSKIE, to be the Secretary of State.
I do wish to commend the President on his selection and to commend Senator MUSKIE for his devotion to our country in taking such an assignment at a time of real crisis.
We all know, have worked with, and learned to respect, ED MUSKIE. I think he has the strength of purpose and the determination to do a good job no matter where he is. I really think the country will be well served by En MUSKIE as Secretary of State.
I thank my friend.