Statement of U.S. Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Senate Republican Whip
Announcing his Retirement from the Senate
LaFont Inn, Pascagoula, Mississippi
Monday, November 26, 2007
Tricia and I have had wonderful experiences. It’s been such a pleasure to serve the good people in this state and to work on things that are important to our country and even issues that involve the world.
And for a boy from Pascagoula, Mississippi, it’s been quite a wild ride, but a very enjoyable one, and one that I’m proud of.
I want to also say to my colleagues in the House and the Senate that I thank them, too, for allowing me to serve in leadership positions in the House and the Senate and being able to work on issues that are important to all of us.
I still feel very strongly about the role of the federal government and having a strong national defense. I still feel very strongly about fiscal responsibility, trying to find some way to control spending.
We’ve not always done a great job of that, of late, but I still think that that’s one of the key responsibilities of members of Congress, House and Senate.
I’ve been very committed, as you know, to jobs creation and all that goes into being able to create more and better jobs in Mississippi, including better education. And I focused in that area – in the higher education area – where the federal government really can be helpful and does have a role.
And, of course, improved infrastructure: One of the things that struck me when I started back in the ’70s as a Congressman, and then as I went though North Mississippi in the ’80s and ’90s as a senator, was the poor quality of our infrastructure – our industrial sites, our roads, our airports, our ports and harbors. And I really felt that we needed to do more in that area, and I focused on it.
I think we made a lot of progress in those areas, and I’ll keep working on that till the last day I serve in the Senate. And the last day I’m alive because I am just so committed to this state and the people of this state and to having a better quality of life for all of our people.
But Tricia and I have decided it’s time for us to do something else. We went to First Baptist Church recently in Jackson. I must say, we were up there and we went to First Baptist Jackson and the pastor there, Stan Buckley, just happened to preach on Ecclesiastes 3:1.
“There’s a time for everything and everything – a special time for everything under heaven,” I believe that’s the paraphrase, but he just seemed to be speaking to me and to us.
We’ve had this great experience for these 35 years, but we do think that there is time left for us to maybe do something else. We had 30 members of our family for Thanksgiving dinner, children, grandchildren, cousins, and aunts and uncles, and I just realized once again I’ve missed a lot of those opportunities to spend extra time with family. We’d like to have a little more time to do that, too.
So I am announcing today that I will be retiring from the Senate by the end of the year. It’s not effective today. I want to collaborate and consult with our governor, state officials, and with federal officials, and I want to continue to serve in my position as whip in the Senate right to the end of the session and try to be helpful there as much as I can.
I did call the president and the vice president and the governor last night, talked about what we had planned, and assuring all of them that I would want to continue to work to try to find a way to finish up this session in the best way possible.
Let me make it clear, there are no problems. I feel fine. I may look my 66 years, but I honestly feel good. And I get up every day believing that I can maybe have a positive effect on what we do in the Senate. I like being a happy warrior. I don’t like some of the negativism that we’re dealing with now, but that’s life and that’s the role, I guess, of politics sometime.
But I don’t have any problem. This is not a negative thing. There’s no malice, no anger, there’s nothing but happiness and pride at the job that I’ve been allowed to do by the people of Mississippi and by my colleagues in the House and Senate.
I don’t know what the future holds for us. A lot of options, hopefully, will be available. I’ve always thought I might like to teach some – as the son of a school teacher why wouldn’t I want to do that.
Our son Chet has turned out to be a pretty good musician. Maybe I could manage his musical career.
I talked to Chancellor Robert Khayat at Ole Miss yesterday and submitted my name for head coach at Ole Miss.
I didn’t appreciate his response.
He said, “You may have played pretty good football on the corner of Lake Avenue and Morgan Lane in Pascagoula, but you ain’t going to be a football coach.” So I guess that’s not an option.
And, you know, we don’t have anything definitely lined up at this time, so I just wanted to make that clear.
But I do think that it’s time for Mississippi to elect a new person, a younger person. We have had a very good history in Mississippi of electing young people to office, usually in their forties, and them staying there 20, 30, 40 years. It’s served us well.
And we also, fortuitously, we’ve been able to stagger the terms, where while one had seniority, like my colleague Thad Cochran, another begins to build that seniority. So when the day comes that Thad makes this announcement, we’ll have a person that will be then an experienced legislator with some seniority built up. And so that is a factor that has entered into my mind.
But I just want to say, in conclusion, thank you to the people of Mississippi and to all of you here in this room and to people all across the state for the great honor and opportunity of serving this state. I’ve loved it, and I hope that I’ve helped make a positive difference.
Thank you very much.
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