On Thursday, both Houses of the Alabama Legislature joined Alabama Governor Kay Ivey for a joint legislative session to honor former U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby and his 52 years of service to the State of Alabama.
Shelby represented State Senate District 16 from 1971 to 1979. In 1978, he was elected to Congress, representing Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District. He served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1986 he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He spent the next 36 years serving the people of Alabama in the United States Senate.
Shelby is a native of Birmingham and a graduate of the Birmingham School of Law, but it is Tuscaloosa where he launched his career. He was hired as city prosecutor for Tuscaloosa and became a special assistant attorney general before launching his political career as State Senator representing Tuscaloosa in the 1970 election.
Every year Shelby was in the Senate, he introduced a flat tax and a balanced budget amendment—neither ever passed the Senate.
The Legislature commended Shelby for his “Service to the state of Alabama and its citizens and wished him continued health and happiness in all future endeavors.”
Ivey said, “We are here today, honoring a friend to all of Alabama. To Richard Shelby, I say welcome home. We are honored to have you back.”
“He is the state’s longest-serving Senator at 36 years,” Ivey said.
Ivey said that out of all the great senators the state of Alabama has had, they have been “eclipsed by Senator Shelby.”
Ivey praised Shelby for having steered hundreds of millions of dollars in engineering and sciences funding to Alabama colleges and universities, as well as Redstone Arsenal, the Port of Mobile, and other projects across the state.
“We wish you the best, and we proudly welcome you back to our sweet home Alabama,” Ivey concluded.
Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth said Shelby “should be forever known as Alabama’s greatest builder.”
“Perhaps the most important and lasting thing that Richard Shelby has built is his legacy,” Ainsworth said. “His legacy will be felt long after Richard Shelby and all who gather in this room have passed by generations of Alabamians not yet born.”
Senate Pro Tem. Greg Reed said, “I echo everything that has been said eloquently by the Governor and Lieutenant Governor.”
Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter said, “It is an honor and a privilege to honor a man in Senator Shelby who has dedicated his life to service of the people of Alabama.”
Ledbetter thanked Shelby for the contribution that he has made to the development of the state.
“Alabama’s economy is stronger than it has ever been,” Ledbetter said. “We have more jobs that we can ever fill. We look forward to building on the foundation that you have built in your 51 years of service.”
State Sen. Jabo Waggoner praised Shelby, saying, “It appears that I am the only one in the Alabama Legislature still standing when he came to the Senate in 1971. I was elected in 1966, so I had a four year head start on Richard.”
“He grew up on the west side of Birmingham like I did, but I did not know him until then,” Waggoner recalled.
Every legislator today has an office in the Alabama Statehouse. In 1971 the Legislature still met in the historic 1859 State Capitol.
“There were about five offices behind this (House) chamber,” Waggoner said. “For the rest of us, our office was this seat in this chamber, so we spent a lot of time together under the rotunda.”
“When the history is written, what he has done in the House of Representatives and the Senate will put him right at the top,” Waggoner continued. “Everybody in Alabama knows the name Richard Shelby – everybody – and what he has accomplished for this state. When the history book is written, my friend, you will be right at the top.”
Shelby said, “Today, I come back around to where I started 52 years ago. It is a great honor.”
“I thought I was going to come down here and run things,” Shelby said. “After ten days, I realized I was going to have to work with people.”
“We have come a long way,” Shelby said.
Shelby said that he learned legislators can accomplish the most “if we work together to advance everybody.”
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