Retiring Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., urged lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to work together for the good of the nation.
His remarks came in a farewell address given on the Senate floor on Wednesday and were detailed in a report by The Hill.
“Our country needs a United States Senate to work across party lines to force broad agreements on hard issues, creating laws that most of us have voted for and that a diverse country will accept,” Alexander said.
And he added that the “Senate doesn’t need a change of rules, it needs a change of behavior. And the behavior to change first is to stop blocking each other’s amendments.”
The Hill noted Alexander is known as a deal-maker and an ally of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
And CNN reported McConnell choked up as he recalled his long friendship with Alexander.
"I myself have leaned on Lamar's wisdom for many years, but I think I leaned just as much on his optimism, his can-do spirit, his ability to look on the bright side and then discern how some more hard work could make it brighter still," McConnell said as he tried to control his emotions.
McConnell called his colleague "hands down one of the most brilliant, most thoughtful and most effective legislators any of us have ever seen."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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