Tom Coburn said farewell to his Senate colleagues Thursday in an emotional address punctuated by tears and pauses to gather his composure.
The Oklahoma Republican, elected to the Senate in 2004 after serving three terms in the House of Representatives in the Clinton era, is stepping down at the end of this congressional session, with two years left in his term. He has faced several health problems, including prostate cancer, but has said that is not the reason for his resignation.
Coburn focused heavily on his plea that the Senate return American government to the principles and directions intended by the Founding Fathers.
“Can we cheat history?” Coburn said, noting that every previous republic has “died. I honestly believe we can. But I don’t believe we can if we ignore the wisdom of our founding documents.”
Despite a multitude of ill-advised decisions by leaders in both political parties, the 66-year-old senator sounded a note of optimism, saying “there is not one problem we can’t solve.” But, he warned, “the Senate was designed to force compromise, not gridlock.”
Coburn repeatedly cited the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as being intended by the founders as protectors of the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
“What comes out of this Congress everyday, to my chagrin, infringes on those rights,” he said. “I know we’re not where we’re intended to be in the vision of our founders,” Coburn said. “We are suffering, no matter where we are in this country, as a consequence of it.”
“Our founders knew what happened when you dominate from central government,” Coburn said. “We’re too much involved in the decision-making in the economy.”
Coburn also encouraged colleagues to pray for President Obama. The two men became good friends during Obama’s time in the Senate, co-sponsoring the Federal Financial Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 that made most federal spending available in a “Google-like Internet database.”
Coburn read the oath all senators take at their swearing-in ceremony at the opening of new congresses.
“Your state isn’t mentioned one time in that oath,” Coburn reminded colleagues, emphasizing that senators’ promise to uphold the Constitution and liberty, not ideologies or special interests among their constituencies.
Throughout his Senate tenure, Coburn has published dozens of individual and committee reports that underscore billions of dollars in waste, fraud, inefficiency and duplication in the federal government, including “Back in Black,” five editions of “Wastebook,” and his latest, “Tax Decoder.”
He admitted that the Wastebooks were opinion, but encouraged other politicians to make their own in order to open discussion about government overspending.
“There should be 435 Wastebooks every year,” Coburn said.
He continued to say that senators could be more fiscally responsible in their bills. Because of the degree Congress neglects oversight, senators cannot make informed votes.
“We don’t make great decisions, because we don’t have the knowledge,” Coburn said.
As a result, decisions are “transferred to bureaucracy” to get information and make decisions, he continued.
Coburn challenged the Senate.
“Will we become efficient in how we spend the money of the American people?”
Coburn included that his work in Congress was not done.
“Unfortunately, this won’t be the last time I speak, much to many of your chagrin, as I have some adamant opposition to some of the things we’re doing,” Coburn said.
He quickly earned the sobriquet of “Senator No” after joining the Senate for his tireless — and ultimately successful — campaign against earmarks, which he called “the gateway drug to federal spending addiction.” Perhaps with that in mind, Coburn said “those of you through the years who I have offended, I truly apologize. And I think none of that was intended — because I actually see things different. You see, I believe our founders were absolutely brilliant. Far smarter than us.”
Coburn concluded by encouraging senators to ask others to convene in order to reach compromise.
Coburn’s remarks, which ended in a tear-filled “yield,” were greeted at the end by a standing ovation from the 40 or so senators present for the occasion, more than might have been expected on the hectic final day of Congress for a colleague who over the years had forced votes on the thousand-plus amendments he offered to cut federal spending.
