[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]

 
               THE RETIREMENT OF SENATOR DENNIS DECONCINI

  Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. Mr. President, I rise today to express my sadness 
that, when the 104th Congress convenes in January, it will be doing so 
without one of the Senate's most valuable Members, Senator Dennis 
DeConcini of Arizona. Since my election to the Senate in 1992, I have 
had the pleasure of working with Senator DeConcini. I know his presence 
will be sorely missed, not only by those of us in Congress, but by his 
constituents in Arizona as well, who knew that Senator DeConcini was 
always looking out for their interests.
  Senator DeConcini has a long and distinguished career in public 
service, beginning with his successful campaign to become the Pima 
County, Arizona, attorney in 1972. It was while serving as Pima 
County's chief prosecutor that Senator DeConcini began his efforts to 
strengthen drug enforcement and consumer protections, efforts that he 
has continued on a national level to this day. His Pima County office 
was named the model office of its size in the Nation by the national 
district attorneys association, and he was named county attorney of the 
year in 1975.
  In 1976, Senator DeConcini was elected to the U.S. Senate, the first 
of his three terms. He was not a timid freshman legislator, passing 
more bills than any other Senator and being named by the Wall Street 
Journal as the freshman most likely to succeed. Although I don't often 
find myself in agreement with the Wall Street Journal, as anyone 
looking back over Senator DeConcini's long and distinguished career 
knows--on this occasion at least--they weren't wrong.
  Currently the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on 
Intelligence, Senator DeConcini has to be one of the busiest Members of 
this body. In addition to his intelligence duties, he chairs the 
Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Patents, Copyrights and 
Trademarks, chairs the appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on 
Treasury, Postal Service and General Government, while also serving on 
the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, the Committee on Rules and 
Administration, and the Select Committee on Indian Affairs. In 
addition, he heads the commission on security and cooperation in 
Europe, and co-chairs the Drug Enforcement Caucus.
  It is particularly fitting that he chairs the Drug Enforcement 
Caucus, as keeping illegal drugs off the streets--and putting those who 
distribute them behind bars--has been one of Senator DeConcini's main 
priorities during his 18 years in this body. He was the principal 
author of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, including its tough drug 
interdiction provisions. He has sponsored legislation to ensure Federal 
funding for State and local law enforcement efforts to fight drugs, and 
helped divert excess military aircraft to protect U.S. borders from 
drug smugglers.
  Mr. President, since passage of the crime bill, much has been said 
about the bill's prohibition on the manufacture of 19 deadly 
semiautomatic assault weapons. That is certainly one of the more 
popular provisions in the bill, with polls showing that well over 70 
percent of the public supports a ban on these instruments of mass 
destruction. I think it is worth noting that Senator DeConcini was 
working to ban semiautomatic assault weapons long before it was 
politically popular. Beginning in the late 1980s, Senator DeConcini 
crafted legislation to take these weapons off our streets. His early 
support of this legislation is a testament to his political courage, 
and a prime example of why he will be so sorely missed.

  Senator DeConcini has also been a leader on issues affecting our most 
vulnerable populations, children and senior citizens. His work to help 
establish the national center for missing and exploited children was 
but one of the reasons he received a national award for legislative 
leadership in child abuse prevention. He has repeatedly supported 
increased funding for education programs, including financial aid to 
deserving student, vocational, and adult education, and bilingual 
education. He has opposed efforts to delay cost-of-living increases for 
social security recipients, and is the sponsor of legislation to 
equalize social security benefits for those senior citizens known as 
``Notch babies.'' In addition, he has sponsored legislation, now law, 
to create the first nationally coordinated program for the prevention, 
identification, and treatment of abuse against the elderly.
  In a time of skyrocketing Federal deficits, Senator DeConcini has 
been actively searched for ways to reduce Government expenditures. He 
helped write legislation enabling the Federal Government to employ more 
aggressive debt collection methods, and cosponsored legislation 
establishing an Inspector General in the Department of Defense, to 
uncover fraud and waste. While on the appropriations committee, he has 
helped reduce the amount of money that the Federal Government can spend 
on consultant services, public relations, printing and motor vehicles.
  But Senator DeConcini's efforts have not been limited to the problems 
within the United States. He authored legislation to promote democracy 
and human rights in the Philippines, South Korea, and Chile. He was the 
sponsor of a successful resolution to remove Soviet and Cuban Troops in 
Angola, and to encourage a peaceful settlement of that country's civil 
war. He sponsored legislation, now law, to keep sophisticated U.S. 
anti-aircraft missiles out of the hands of terrorists and to direct 
U.S. loans to the poorest of the poor in third world nations, so they 
can work toward self-sufficiency. So it is not just Arizona's citizens, 
but citizens in all parts of the world, who ware better off due to 
Senator DeConcini's service in the Senate.
  Those in Arizona who know Senator DeConcini's family are not 
surprised by this dedication to public service. indeed, some might say 
that his family is an Arizona political dynasty. His father, Evo, 
enjoyed a long and distinguished legal career, serving as a Pima County 
superior court judge, as attorney general for the State of Arizona, and 
as an Arizona supreme court justice. His mother, Ora, was the State's 
democratic national committee woman from 1972 to 1980. We certainly owe 
his mother and father a debt of gratitude for instilling Senator 
DeConcini with the will and desire to serve.
  Mr. President, the down-side of paying tribute to someone with a 
career as long and distinguished as Senator DeConcini's is that you 
will inevitably leave out many important accomplishments. But my 
purpose in speaking today is not to re-cap everything the Senator from 
Arizona has ever done. Rather, I want to give everyone a sense of why 
I, personally, will miss him so much. When asked how he wanted to be 
remembered, Senator DeConcini replied that he wanted to be remembered 
as someone who put his constituents first. Whether they were rich and 
powerful or poor and humble, I was fighting against the Government or 
with the Government to get what was right.
  Mr. President, I would submit that Senator DeConcini will be 
remembered as all that and more. I wish him well in all his future 
endeavors, and hope that he will not hesitate to continue to weigh in 
on legislation. That way, we can continue to benefit from his insight 
and wisdom.

                          ____________________