For perhaps the first time in congressional history, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has a sundae named in his honor.
Ben & Jerry's, the distinctive ice cream maker from Vermont, created the sundae to commemorate Sen. Patrick Leahy's becoming the state’s longest-serving senator ever. The Democrat was elected in 1974 and is set to pass his predecessor, the late Sen. George Aiken, in tenure on Saturday, when he will have served 12,412 days.
“The sundae will feature two scoops, both placed firmly on the left,” Ben & Jerry’s spokesman Sean Greenwood told The Burlington Free Press.
It includes one scoop of Cherry Garcia, because Leahy is a Grateful Dead fan, and one of Phish Food, because of Leahy’s efforts to clean up Lake Champlain. Also included are hot fudge, whipped cream, and nuts. Proceeds are going to a local charity.
Unfortunately for Leahy’s colleagues, the serving of the sundae appears to have been a one-time event in Burlington on Monday. But, according to a local television station, Leahy did take the opportunity to reminisce about his time in Washington—and repeat an old congressional saw.
“I remember when I first came to the Senate, they told me everything is based on the seniority system. I thought it was a lousy system,” said Leahy, 68. “Now that I’ve studied it for 34 years, I think it’s a wonderful system.”
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