[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 145 (Friday, October 7, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
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 SENATOR DAVID BOREN

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to one of our retiring 
colleagues, David Boren of Oklahoma. Senator Boren has been a voice of 
independence and integrity during his 16 years in the Senate, and he 
will be missed.
  Senator Boren has shown the same independence and grit shown by the 
Boomers and Sooners who settled his home State during the last century. 
He has talked repeatedly about the need for bipartisanship, about the 
need to do what's right for our country, not what's right for our 
party.
  More than anything else, David Boren has been a reformer. For the 
last decade, he has fought with every ounce of his strength to reform 
our bankrupt system of campaign finance. He has sought to reduce the 
role of special interest money in the system, to limit out-of-control 
campaign spending and to cut into so-called soft money donations.
  His goal has been to begin the long process of rebuilding the 
American people's faith in their elected representatives. We did not 
pass campaign finance this year, but our failure was certainly not due 
to any lack of effort on the part of David Boren.
  We will get the job done eventually, because the American people are 
demanding that we act. Those demands are not going away. When we 
finally do succeed, the memory, inspiration, and eloquent words of 
David Boren will be there with us.
  Senator Boren chaired the Intelligence Committee for 6 years, 
becoming our leading expert on intelligence matters. He sought to 
improve relations between the executive and legislative branches in 
this area and help our intelligence community adjust to the post-cold-
war world.
  In addition, Senator Boren has been a tough and tenacious advocate 
for his State and the farmers and oil producers that form its economic 
backbone. He was the architect of the $4 billion bailout of the farm 
credit system in the mid-1980's and has stood up for oil producers when 
he thought they were being unfairly singled out by tax proposals.
  Senator Boren has a long and distinguished career of public service. 
He served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1968 to 1974. 
During that time he was also chairman of the government department at 
Oklahoma Baptist University. After literally campaigning with a broom 
in hand, he was elected governor on a reform platform in 1974. He made 
good on his pledge to make State government more open and accountable.
  He then won a seat in the Senate in 1978. He won reelection in 1984 
with 76 percent of the vote. That was a record tally for Oklahoma, and 
it stood until 1990, when he broke his own record with 83 percent of 
the vote. He carried every county in the State that year.
  Senator Boren will now return to one of his true loves: education. He 
will become president of the University of Oklahoma, and I am sure he 
will lead that institution with the same distinction with which he has 
conducted himself as a U.S. Senator. I wish him well in all his future 
endeavors, and I want him to know he will be missed here.

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