US Senator Kaine Remarks READING OF GWFA 24Feb26

 

READING OF WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS; Congressional Record Vol. 172, No. 36
(Senate - February 24, 2026)

[Pages S627-S632]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                READING OF WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the Senate 
of January 24, 1901, as modified by the orders of February 11 and 
February 23, 2026, the Senator from Virginia, Mr. Kaine, will now read 
Washington's Farewell Address.
  Mr. KAINE. Madam President, I rise today to continue an important 
Senate tradition. Each year, beginning in 1896, on a day near in time 
to George Washington's birthday, a Senator, alternating between 
parties, stands in the Senate to read Washington's Farewell Address, 
presented 100 years earlier as our first President neared the end of 
his second term.
  During the 130 years of this tradition, seven Virginia Senators have 
preceded me in reading the Address, which was written by the archetypal 
son of our Commonwealth, with the assistance of close confidants 
Alexander Hamilton and another Virginia native son James Madison. Those 
Virginians who read the Farewell Address on the Senate floor are: John 
Daniel, Claude Swanson, Carter Glass, John Warner--twice--Paul Trible, 
Chuck Robb, and George Allen.
  It is particularly appropriate that this year's reading is delivered 
in the Senate Chamber hours before President Trump is set to deliver 
his State of the Union Address in the House Chamber.
  Washington's words demonstrate the mixture of wisdom, patriotism, and 
selflessness that should serve as a model for all Presidents and set 
the expectations for all Americans for how a President should approach 
the sacred trust of serving as America's Chief Executive.
  Washington's Farewell Address to the people of the United States.
  Mr. Kaine, at the rostrum, read the Farewell Address as follows: >>>>

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