LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell marked his new status as Kentucky's longest-serving senator ever by paying tribute to Wendell Ford, the former Senate colleague he surpassed.
In a Senate speech Monday, McConnell said that Ford never forgot his humble roots in western Kentucky, even while rising to the upper echelon of Senate leadership.
Ford served as the second-ranking Senate Democrat during the 1990s until his retirement.
McConnell mentioned Ford's sponsorship of the motor voter law, and noted that Ford was in charge of the inaugural ceremonies for former President George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
McConnell and Ford were Senate colleagues for more than a decade, and at times found themselves on opposite sides of issues. McConnell is a Republican, Ford a Democrat.
McConnell surpassed Ford as Kentucky's longest-serving senator on Saturday. McConnell won a fifth term last November.
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