Departing Senators Take to Floor for Ritual of Farewell Addresses

The farewell address is a Senate ritual that reflects the culture of the chamber, which prizes tradition, individual relationships, lofty debates and long-winded speeches.

The way Senator Joe Manchin III tells it, the senatorial bashes he hosted on his beloved houseboat Almost Heaven were so good they could inspire the most liberal of Democrats and the most conservative of Republicans to start writing bills together.

Take the time he invited a group including Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas for a cruise down the Potomac. When Mr. Harkin, a prairie populist who has since retired, spotted Mr. Cruz, a right-wing firebrand, walking down the boat’s ramp, Mr. Manchin recalled, the Iowan balked. “I don’t think I can do this,” he quoted Mr. Harkin saying. “I don’t think we can be on the same boat.”

But soon enough, the Iowan and Texan got to talking. And by the next day, Mr. Manchin said during his final speech on the Senate floor, the unlikely pair had started collaborating on amendments.

“A lot of things happened on the boat,” said Mr. Manchin, independent of West Virginia, eliciting laughs from the dozens of senators and spectators gathered in the chamber recently. “That’s just the power of sitting down and getting to know each other.”

Mr. Manchin, independent of West Virginia, sharing a story about hosting two political opponents on his boat.

His remarks were part of a time-honored Senate ritual that is unfolding in the final days of Congress as lawmakers wind down their legislative work for the year. Departing senators — those who, like Mr. Manchin, are voluntarily retiring as well as those who lost their re-election bids last month — take to the floor for one final farewell address. Akin to an office-party goodbye, only these are delivered at the Capitol and televised live on C-SPAN.