WASHINGTON >> Congress is saying farewell to its last two veterans of World War II, the member whose lodgings inspired Amazon’s "Alpha House" show, a founding firebrand of the tea party, the senator dubbed "Dr. No" and a few dozen other lawmakers this week as another session of bickering winds down.

As they end their careers, many lawmakers of various eras are sounding a common note: that they’re leaving the institution in worse shape than they found it.

"We have lost our way," retiring Sen. Tim Johnson lamented in his parting speech Thursday. The South Dakota Democrat said that during his 28 years in the House and Senate, it became harder and harder to strike bipartisan compromise, as winning elections came to overshadow everything else.

West Virginia Democrat Jay Rockefeller bade farewell to the Senate after three decades with a warning: "As a governing body, we must not allow recent failures to take root."

"Politics today is too full of pettiness," complained Sen. John Walsh, D-Mont., who could hardly be blamed for the state of Congress because he arrived as an appointee in February. Walsh’s bid to win a full term ended in a plagiarism scandal, so he gets less than 11 months in office. That’s not a record: One 1970s senator served only four days.

Republicans, looking forward to expanding their control from the House to the Senate in January, sound more upbeat these days than Democrats. Still, some departing GOP members are echoing the 9 out of 10 Americans who tell pollsters they disapprove of Congress’ handiwork.

Nebraska Republican Sen. Mike Johanns, quitting after one term, said "confidence in our nation’s ability to solve problems may be shaken" but insisted that "ordinary people can do extraordinary things — even here in Washington, D.C."

Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon teared up as he spoke of reaching the twilight of a two-decade career, but the House Armed Services chairman also berated his colleagues for allowing budget cuts known as "sequestration" that he said are harming the troops.

"There isn’t a magical solution that Republicans can support and the president can sign without sacrifice on both sides," the California Republican said, adding "shame on all of us" if Congress and the president fail to restore defense spending next year.

Rep. George Miller, one of the last of the Democratic "Watergate babies" swept into office after President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974, takes a longer view.

He says the overly partisan tone will fade away eventually — perhaps after another election or two — when the voters settle the latest round of arguments over the size and role of government.

"America has to make up its mind," Miller said, "so the Congress can make up its mind."

The California congressman’s career focused on schools, the environment and helping workers, but he made his mark on popular culture in another way. Miller has shared his scruffy home-away-from-home with a revolving cast of lawmaker-housemates since the early 1980s, inspiring the satiric Amazon video series, "Alpha House." Now that he’s retiring, Miller is selling the house.

Congress’ last two World War II veterans are in the record books for other reasons, too.

Rep. Ralph Hall is the oldest House member ever, at age 91. Hall, who lost his Republican primary in May, missed attending his colleagues’ tributes this week because he’s recovering from injuries suffered in a car accident in his home state of Texas.

Rep. John Dingell, 88, has served in Congress longer than anyone in history: 59 years. The Michigan Democrat was elected to Congress in 1955 after his father died in office. The seat will once again stay in the family, because Dingell’s wife, Debbie, won it in November.