"After a long and difficult period of soul-searching, I am announcing today that I will not seek re-election to the United States Senate. At the end of this term I will end my career in public service. I want to say to the people of Texas that it has been the great privilege of my life to serve you as your Congressman and Senator, as a Democrat and a Republican. ... All that I am I owe to the good people of Texas."
Statement of U.S. Senator Phil Gramm
September 4, 2001
"When I ran for Congress a quarter of a century ago, I promised the people of Texas that I would go to Washington and work to put the federal government on a budget, to put more money back in the pockets of the people who earned it, to pass power and funding back from the federal government to the states, to the counties, to the cities and to the people. I promised to reform welfare, to rebuild national defense, and to roll back the borders of communism. I am proud to be able to say today that not only did I fight for these things, not only did I play a leadership role in each and every one, but that in a very real sense, 25 years later these goals have been achieved.
"The budget is balanced. Working first with President Reagan and now with President Bush, we have cut taxes twice. Never in American history has more power devolved from the federal government to the states, to the counties, to the cities and to the people than in the last 25 years. We have reformed welfare, cut the welfare rolls by 40 percent and reinvigorated the lives of millions of our citizens. I wrote the budget in 1981 with Del Latta of Ohio that started the effort to rebuild national defense and established the Reagan program of peace through strength. From that starting point, America has changed the world. We tore down the Berlin Wall, liberated Eastern Europe, destroyed the Soviet Union and won the Cold War. Remarkably, the things I came to Washington to do are done.
"While I know that no victory is ever really final and that America in 2001 faces an entirely new set of challenges and opportunities, what better time to call it a career than when you have completed the work which was assigned to you?
"Of equal importance to me is that I can leave the Senate at the end of this term knowing that the country is in good hands and knowing that a Republican will win my seat in the Senate. When John Tower left the Senate 18 years ago, it was far from certain that he would be succeeded by another Republican. Today the Republican party dominates politics in Texas, and a Republican holds every statewide office. I can, therefore, leave the Senate with confidence that the person who takes my place will share not only my values and my objectives, but the values and objectives of working Texans.
"After a long and difficult period of soul-searching, I am announcing today that I will not seek re-election to the United States Senate. At the end of this term I will end my career in public service.
"I want to say to the people of Texas that it has been the great privilege of my life to serve you as your Congressman and Senator, as a Democrat and a Republican. I want to thank the people of Texas for standing up with me and for me, whether it was electing a young, idealistic college professor with a vision or being willing to hear me out about a tough vote based on principle. We made history together when, having been stripped of my seat on the Budget committee for authoring the Reagan program, I resigned from Congress and ran again as a Republican. I have spent two-thirds of my adult life in the service of the people of Texas and America. I’ve loved every minute of it. I’m profoundly grateful to have had the opportunity. All that I am I owe to the good people of Texas.
"I want to thank my wife, Wendy Lee, and my sons, Marshall and Jeff, for their unflinching support and for never complaining about all the important events in their lives that I missed. They have always understood that I was absent in the service of the greatest state in the greatest country in the history of the world.
"I want to thank my staff for doing all the jobs large and small that have made it possible for me to do my job. I want to thank Ruth Cymber, my Chief of Staff, who came to Washington with me, and who has dedicated 25 years of her life to serving me, our state and our nation. I want to thank Larry Neal, Dick Ribbentrop, Wayne Abernathy, John Savercool, Steve McMillin, Mike Solon, Linda Lord, Jeb Hensarling, Phil Wilson and everyone gathered here today and those gathered in my offices in Texas. You deserve a large share of the credit for all we have accomplished together.
"While I am announcing today that I will not seek reelection, 15 months remain in this term. I intend in these 15 months to work as I always have to promote the interests of people like Dicky Flatt - people who do the work and pay the taxes and pull the wagon in Texas and America. The working people of Texas deserve a voice in Medicare modernization and Social Security reform, and I will see that their voice is heard as a roar, not a whisper. As long as the people of Texas and America are paying my salary, and I will give them their money’s worth.
"On a personal note, for me, leaving the Senate will be bittersweet. Sweet because it means going home to Texas, to the ranch and to freedom and an opportunity to have one more career. Bitter because I will miss the arena, the cause, my colleagues and my staff and the noble work we have been about.
"I will leave Washington with even more respect for our Constitutional system of government than I had the day that I came here. I leave not cynical about our system but confident in it. I leave respecting my colleagues and the institutions of our free government. I leave being glad that I came and proud of what I did while I was here." |
