In his farewell address on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) urged his colleagues to work together to address the major challenges facing the nation.
“My life’s work has been a group affair,” said the retiring senator. “During my first months in the Senate, I was mostly on my own and thus…mostly unproductive. And then Lisa Murkowski invited five Democrats to join with five Republicans in her home for take-out dinner. With COVID then active, we were spaced far apart, with windows open despite the winter cold. Our conjecture on how to bridge the impasse between the President and Congress on COVID relief led us, over the next several weeks, to dig in, negotiate, draft and eventually see our work become the basis of law. I was fortunate to also be part of what this team worked on that followed: the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Electoral Count Act Reform, gun safety legislation, and marriage legislation that included religious protections.
“Our group was Rob Portman, Kyrsten Sinema, Susan Collins, Joe Manchin, Mark Warner, Jon Tester, Bill Cassidy, Jeanne Shaheen and Lisa Murkowski,” he added. “We had each come to Washington to enact law that would help people. And that’s just what we did. We accomplished together what we could have never done alone.”
Still, he lamented he didn’t accomplish all he came to Washington to do.
“Among other things, the scourge of partisan politics has frustrated repeated efforts to stabilize our national debt,” he said. “Without the burden of the interest on that debt, we would be able to spend almost three times as much as we do on military procurement—three times as many aircraft, three times as many ships, three times as many drones, spacecraft, and cyber defenses. Alternatively, we could spend double the amount we spend on Social Security benefits every month. Our national credit card is almost maxed out, and America risks becoming debt poor.”
Romney, a Trump critic, said today there are some people trying to “tear at our unity, who would replace love with hate, who deride our foundation of virtue, or who debase the values upon which the blessings of heaven depend.
“Now, I have been in public service for 25 years,” he continued. “I have learned that politics alone cannot measure up to the challenges we face. A country’s character is a reflection not just of its elected officials but also of its people. I leave Washington to return to be one among them and hope to be a voice of unity and virtue. For it is only if the American people merit His benevolence, that God will continue to bless America.”
Throughout my 25 years of public service, I have learned that politics alone cannot measure up to the challenges we face. A country’s character is a reflection not just of its elected officials but also of its people. May we each be a voice of unity and virtue. pic.twitter.com/bOWTdmTqff
— Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) December 4, 2024