[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 67 (Wednesday, May 25, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                              CHUCK CUTOLO

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, my legislative director, Chuck Cutolo, is 
leaving the Senate next week after 14 years of service. He is an 
extraordinary man and I will miss him.
  In the effort to replace Chuck, I have a short job description that I 
would like to relate to the Senate, and if anyone fits the bill, I 
would encourage them to make themselves known to me.
  He or she must be willing to work 16 hours a day monitoring the 
Senate floor, understanding the nuances of legislation, amendments, and 
the parliamentary situation at every given moment. They must provide an 
almost instant analysis of complex proposals with a fanatical 
determination to get it right and to get it straight every single time. 
They must direct a staff that covers every issue of concern to the 
people of my home State of Michigan and be able to handle nearly every 
issue that their staff handles as well or better than the staff. They 
must be able to explain it all simply and when that is not possible, 
they must find an appropriate metaphor from Sesame Street or 
battlefield strategy to make it plain.
  There is one additional threshold qualification and this may be the 
most difficult one of all. This individual must love the Senate. They 
must enjoy second-degree perfecting amendments to the substitute, know 
the difference between morning business and the morning hour, and 
understand that ``over under the rule'' is not a sports bet.
  If this sounds interesting to anybody, as I said, I hope they will 
make themselves known--preferably to a physician. Or at least take a 
couple of aspirin and lie down until the feeling passes.
  I am afraid we reward loyalty to the Senate in a way that makes it 
difficult to have a normal family life. One irony that is not unique to 
the Senate is the phenomenon that some call ``working the horse that 
works.'' Special pressure is placed on those who produce the best and 
the most and the fastest, and expectations rise with each performance. 
Over the years, Chuck could have spent more time at home in New York 
with his wife Denise, a teacher and a wonderful leader of children's 
theater. He could have indulged his passion for baseball more than he 
did. And he could have finished his mystery novel--now apparently up to 
7,000 pages--about a Senate staffer who kills a Senator by poisoning 
his oatmeal cookies.
  As his boss, I certainly know I could have made things easier for 
Chuck, but I am reminded of one-time New York Yankee manager Joe 
McCarthy. He, along with the rest of baseball in the 1930's and 1940's, 
watched the great Joe DiMaggio. Consistency and tremendous power at the 
plate; judgment and grace and absolute ownership of his position on 
defense--he was one of a kind. At one point manager McCarthy was asked, 
``On top of everything else that DiMaggio did, could Joe bunt?'' 
McCarthy gave an answer that seems a fair summation for those of us who 
have watched Chuck Cutolo's 100 percent performance over the years. 
McCarthy said, ``I don't know if he could bunt. Nor do I have any 
intention of ever finding out.''
  Chuck Cutolo has commuted each week between New York and Washington. 
We have estimated those trips over the years, on Amtrak, have equaled 
nine trips around the world. His one-way ticket this weekend will leave 
a gaping hole for me and for the multitude that have come to rely on 
his impeccable honesty and decency.
  The reason democratic government succeeds is that there are enough 
Chuck Cutolos who bring supreme integrity to their work and to honor 
the people of this Nation by serving them.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wisconsin.

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