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Floor Speech

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Mr. LEE. Mr. President, today we celebrate the 100th birthday of a true hero of the U.S. Senate, former Senator James Buckley.

Born in 1923, James L. Buckley was raised in rural Connecticut. He went to college at Yale and graduated from Yale with a degree in English.

After enlisting in the Navy, he served in World War II, where he fought in battles of Leyte, Lingayen Gulf, and Okinawa. Senator Buckley was discharged in 1946 with the rank of lieutenant and received his law degree from Yale in 1949.

After working for a number of years in the private sector, James was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1970 as the candidate of New York's Conservative Party, becoming the only candidate in the history of that State to win a major party election, running against both a Republican and a Democrat. In fact, Senator Buckley was the first and only third- party candidate to be elected to the U.S. Senate in the 20th century.

During his tenure, he championed many conservative causes, but in particular, he was a pioneer in the early pro-life movement following the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973. Senator Buckley proposed and fought for a human life amendment, which would have recognized embryos as persons for purposes of that term's use in the 14th Amendment. Along with the late Senator Jesse Helms, Buckley was also a key player in passing the Hyde amendment, named after the late Henry Hyde, which prevents taxpayer dollars from funding elective abortions.

Challenging the orthodoxy of his day, Republican Senator Buckley, was also one of the Senate's first true environmental conservationists. ``Nixon established the EPA in 1970,'' he said, but he added, ``I actually proposed it during my '68 campaign.'' He is responsible for major revisions to the Clean Air Act, which passed in 1977.

James Buckley would later serve as an Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance in the Reagan administration in 1981, and then from 1982 to 1985, he served as president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which was a contributing force in defeating the Soviet Union in the Cold War. Buckley used radio to deliver raw, fact-based news and messages to millions stuck behind the Iron Curtain.

Then in 1985, President Reagan nominated Buckley to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Senate confirmed him. Once confirmed to this position, Buckley became the only American to have served in a major position in all three branches of the Federal Government--as a U.S. Senator, as Under Secretary of State, and then as a judge sitting on the DC Circuit. He retired in 2000.

My own interactions with James Buckley have helped me understand why he remains a hero to this day, not just in the Senate but really throughout the United States. I invited him to address the Senate Republican conference at our steering lunch just a few years ago, in which he provided observations that were timely, relevant, compelling, and delivered with incredible enthusiasm.

On each occasion when I have met Senator Buckley, he has always struck me as someone who is friendly, who is kind, who is thoughtful, considerate, and deeply loves his country and is willing to work hard to make it a better place.

Today, Mr. Buckley is the oldest living former U.S. Senator, and to this day, he remains an advocate for constitutional government, for federalism, separation of powers, and for conservatism at large.

In his 2015 book, ``Saving Congress from Itself: Emancipating the States & Empowering Their People,'' Mr. Buckley wrote:

Congress's current dysfunction is rooted in its assumption over the years of more responsibilities than it can handle. Its members now live a treadmill existence that no longer allows them time to study, learn, and think things through. Instead, they substitute political reflex for thought.

The Senate would serve America well by heeding Mr. Buckley's words.

James Buckley's commitment to service, whether on the battlefield, in these Halls of Congress, or in the courtroom, is a reminder of the power, joy, and honor of being an American.

On this his 100th birthday, the Senate recognizes and pays tribute to a former colleague, Senator James L. Buckley, and his important legacy.

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