[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 145 (Friday, October 7, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 7, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
               TRIBUTE TO MIKE SYNAR, AN EXAMPLE FOR ALL

  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, early last year, a C-SPAN interviewer asked 
what Member of Congress I most admired. I had only been here a few 
months, but one person had already made a deep impression: Mike Synar.
  If legislators can be judged by their enemies, Mike rates at the top 
of this body. The causes he took up--and the special interests he took 
on--speak to his remarkable political courage. He worked to reduce 
Government handouts for grazing on public lands, so ranchers did not 
like him. He wanted to regulate cigarettes under the same rules that 
govern other products, so the tobacco industry wanted him gone. He 
favored sensible restrictions on firearms, so the gun lobby targeted 
him.
  After fighting so many hard battles, Mike learned a thing or two 
about the influence of special interest groups. He worked relentlessly 
to pass a campaign finance reform bill that would reduce the influence 
of special interests and increase access to the political process for 
ordinary people. He was serious about campaign finance reform, and he 
will be missed for that reason alone.
  Mike knew there was a price to be paid for crossing so many well-
organized and well-financed special interests. He did what he thought 
was right for the country even if it was not right for his political 
career. That is an example we all ought to follow.

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