Rand Paul Makes First Speech on Senate Floor
With self assurance, eloquence and a soupçon of mild defiance, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky gave his first speech on the floor of his new legislative home Wednesday, noting that while he would be sitting at the desk of “the great compromiser,” Henry Clay, he would not be taking many cues from the 19th-century Kentucky lawmaker and founder of the Whig Party.
“Henry Clay’s life is at best a mixed message,” said Mr. Paul, who gained national attention during his successful Senate bid by calling for huge — and at the time controversial — cuts to federal spending in the spirit of the Tea Party movement. Mr. Clay, a slave owner, advocated in a complex manner, for the end to the practice, advocating that free slaves be sent back to Africa.
Mr. Paul, in a narrative leading toward his passion hammering away at federal spending, noted that Mr. Clay’s cousin, Cassius Clay, was an “unapologetic abolitionist” who stood with greater moral authority on the matter. “Is compromise the noble position?” Mr. Rand pondered during his remarks. “Is compromise a sign of enlightenment?”
While Mr. Paul noted that the argument over the national debt was not the moral equivalency of the slavery issue that divided the nation, he said: “Many ask, ‘Will the Tea party compromise?’ The answer is of course there must be dialogue and ultimately compromise.”
He added, “The compromise that we as conservatives must acknowledge is that we can cut some money from the military,” which could come about if “liberals” would agree to make cuts in domestic spending.
“As long as I sit at Henry Clay’s desk I will remember his lifelong desire to forge agreement,” he said.
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