[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 16 (Wednesday, February 23, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
         RUTH VAN CLEVE RETIRES FROM DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

  Mr. JOHNSTON. Mr. President, today I ask my colleagues to join me in 
congratulating Mrs. Ruth Van Cleve on her retirement as special 
assistant in the Office of the Solicitor at the Department of the 
Interior.
  Mr. President, Mrs. Van Cleve is truly a remarkable and talented 
person. She will be missed not only by her friends and colleagues at 
the Department of the Interior but also by innumerable staff, Senators, 
and Congressmen throughout Capitol Hill and staff with the executive 
branch.
  Mrs. Van Cleve's departure from Interior after almost 43 years of 
distinguished Federal service marks an unusual degree of commitment and 
dedication to the issues of the U.S. territories.
  She began her career with the Department of the Interior as an 
attorney in the Office of Territories in 1950. In 1964, Secretary Udall 
appointed her Director of the Office of Territories, making her the 
highest ranking woman in the Department. She was awarded the 
Distinguished Service Award, the Department's highest honor, in 1968.
  Mrs. Van Cleve went on to serve in the Office of General Counsel for 
the Federal Power Commission where she became the FPC's first woman 
assistant general counsel as well as receiving two awards. In 1977, 
Mrs. Van Cleve returned to the Department of the Interior as Director 
of Territorial Affairs. During this time period, it was a pleasure to 
have Mrs. Van Cleve testify before the Subcommittee on Territories, 
which was my first subcommittee chairmanship. She always was an 
exemplary witness, handling sometimes difficult situations with ease 
and grace. When the Assistant Secretary position was created in 1980, 
she became Deputy Assistant Secretary. Soon after, she moved to the 
Office of the Solicitor and began preparing a three-volume treatise on 
the applicability of the Federal laws to the territories and other 
insular areas. The treatise was published in early January of this 
year. Other highlights of Mrs. Van Cleve's long and distinguished 
career include assisting in achieving statehood for Alaska and Hawaii, 
and securing elected Governors in the Virgin Islands and Guam.
  Mrs. Van Cleve came to work on territorial issues soon after the 
trusteeship was established in 1948, and now leaves as the trusteeship 
can be fully terminated. It was a Herculean task, but Mrs. Van Cleve 
was up to it!
  I ask my colleagues to join me in commending Ruth Van Cleve on her 
retirement and in thanking her for 43 years of dedicated service to the 
Nation and its territories.

                          ____________________