Honoring Chief Justice Willam H. Rehnquist
HONORING CHIEF JUSTICE WILLIAM H. REHNQUIST -- (Senate - September 07, 2005)
Mr. DURBIN. Thank you, very much. I will try to be brief and to the point.
Chief Justice Rehnquist was a person I probably disagreed with in most political arguments. I read his opinions, and I realized that we just looked at the world in a different way. Yet I liked him. I liked him a lot.
I had two direct contacts with him as U.S. Senator, the first as a new Member of Senate and as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and I received an invitation to come across the street, which is unusual, from the Senate to the Supreme Court for lunch. It was with a Federal judicial council. I was flattered and accepted the invitation. I then started asking the staff: Who are these people? They said: They are Federal judges from all across the United States. They gather together infrequently across the street for lunch in the Supreme Court, in a large chamber with the Chief Justice. They have invited you to come and speak to them.
Reflecting on my storied legal career as a small-town lawyer in Springfield, IL, and the fact that I didn't set the world on fire in law school, I wondered why they would ever invite me. Then it dawned on me. I was the ranking member on the court administrations subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee which had responsibility for determining the salaries of Federal judges. So they were going to entertain me for lunch and pay close attention to all of my views in the hopes that I would listen carefully when they recommended increases in judicial salaries. That is exactly what happened. But the circumstances of that meeting were amazing.
It was a large room and a huge table. There were two chairs empty as I walked into the room with all of these federal judges in every direction. I sat in one of them. Then we waited quietly, and the door of the back room opened and everyone stood as Chief Justice Rehnquist came in to sit next to me. As he sat down, I thought to myself: There isn't a single law professor I ever had in school who would ever dream I would be sitting next to the Chief Justice, but I am certain my mother looking down from heaven thought it was entirely appropriate that her son was sitting next to the Chief Justice of the United States.
The second time was the impeachment trial in the Senate, which was presided over by Chief Justice Rehnquist. There is a small room called The President's Room. It is a historic chamber, and people often go in there for quick meetings off the floor. It became the Chief Justice's office when he was here for the impeachment trial. It was a curious setup because as you walked by there, he had a desk that was literally smack dab in the center of the room with the chair behind it, and I do not recall that there was any other furniture in the room. He just kind of sat there isolated, like this little island. I would walk by and glance in there from time to time.
Finally, I got the courage to walk in and talk to him. He dropped what he was doing and started talking right away. I was impressed. The man was entirely approachable, personable, and funny. He had a ton of questions about the Senate because he had been for over 30 years at the Supreme Court and the Senate was brand new to him. He asked basic questions and joked about the rollcalls. He said, ``I love it when we have a rollcall, and it will be BAYH `aye' and SNOWE `no.' He said, ``I just love to listen as you call the roll here in the Senate.''
We had a great conversation. He gave me a book he had written about the impeachment process. He agreed to autograph a few things. I really liked him a lot personally.
I can understand why those who disagreed with him politically still thought the world of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. He was a man dedicated to public service. I respected him so much for that.
As others have said, when he showed up in frail health at the second inauguration of President George W. Bush on a blustery, cold day to administer the oath, it was a great gesture on his part. It showed his personal commitment to his job as Chief Justice, his love of his Nation, and his responsibility. We are going to miss him. Very few men and women ever get the chance to serve as Chief Justice.
The Rehnquist Court was a Court which because of his leadership will be remembered for many years to come.
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