[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 146 (Saturday, October 8, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   SENATOR RIEGLE'S FIRE IN THE BELLY

  Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, the people of Michigan and of the Nation 
owe a debt of gratitude to a colleague who soon will retire from this 
body, the senior Senator from Michigan, Senator Don Riegle.
  Few have been as faithful a champion as Don Riegle has been for 
working families, for the poor, and the powerless. This empathy for the 
real problems of real people has been one of the hallmarks of Don 
Riegle's service in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. An 
advocate for housing for the poor said this about Don Riegle: ``The man 
has real fire in his belly. There aren't a lot of members who genuinely 
relate to working-class people.''
  I saw this quality in Don Riegle as he emerged as one of the real 
stalwarts in the fight for true health care reform. The measure he 
brought forward to extend health insurance to children and pregnant 
women will remain on the agenda until we achieve real reform.
  More recently, he launched what began as a lonely crusade on behalf 
of Gulf war veterans who face health problems, and his work is now 
bringing these veterans closer to real relief.
  Over the years, Don Riegle has tackled--or the Senate has asked him 
to handle--some of the most difficult assignments the Senate has to 
offer. The savings and loan mess fell directly on his shoulders soon 
after he assumed the chairmanship of the Banking Committee. Don Riegle 
did not duck the crisis but took charge of solving it in what 
unquestionably was the Senate's toughest and most unpleasant job at the 
time. On a bipartisan basis, he hammered out a solution, working 
closely with President Bush and the members of his committee.
  This year the Senate turned to Don Riegle and the Banking Committee 
to handle another demanding task, the Whitewater hearings. Few Senate 
committee chairs could have pulled together such a thorough and 
bipartisan inquiry under such tight deadlines and extreme pressure. 
William Safire called the Riegle hearings ``a credit to the Senate,'' 
and they were.
  Years earlier Don Riegle did a masterful job, against great odds and 
in the face of sharp skepticism, in fighting to enact the loan 
guarantee program that saved Chrysler. As we all know, Chrysler not 
only survived, but has thrived. The company repaid its loans to the 
penny--and repaid them early--and tens of thousands of jobs were saved.
  Many of the families that depend on these jobs know what Don Riegle 
did to help them; many more probably do not. Most Americans may not 
know that our economy is stronger today because Don Riegle's 
legislation has helped make the U.S. banking industry the best 
capitalized in the world. The Senate will miss Don Riegle's skills and 
advocacy and the fire in his belly. But Don Riegle will be able to 
leave the Senate knowing that his work has improved the lives of 
millions of his fellow Americans.

                          ____________________