Vermont’s Patrick Leahy on His 48 Years in the Senate

From an AP story by Wilson Ring headlined “Vermont Sen. Leahy ponders his legacy”:

Sen. Patrick Leahy lingered on a narrow balcony on the west side of the U.S. Capitol, soaking in a panoramic view of the National Mall, the Washington Monument and, beyond, the Lincoln Memorial.

“Now this I will miss,” he said.

As Leahy closes out a Senate career that has spanned 48 years, the Vermont senator is saying goodbye to Washington with a mix of resignation and resolve, lamenting the hyperpartisanship that now grips Congress while expressing hope that the institution as he once knew it can someday return.