[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 149 (Thursday, December 1, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: December 1, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                      TRIBUTE TO SENATOR DeCONCINI

  Mr. JOHNSTON. Mr. President, in his 4 years as the Pima County 
Attorney, Dennis DeConcini was the busiest law enforcement official in 
the State of Arizona. He implemented programs in drug enforcement and 
consumer affairs, prosecuted organized crime bosses and ran an office 
which was named the model office of its size in the nation by the 
National District Attorneys Association. In his 18 years in the Senate, 
he has continued this pattern of productive activity, attention to 
detail and concentration on the basic problems on the nation: the 
health and safety--physical, mental and economic--of American families, 
the health of the economy and the safety of society.
  Working Americans and the companies they work for have much to thank 
him for. He played a major role in passing legislation to provide 
quality affordable child care for families, and led the fight to 
establish fair and flexible laws for unpaid parental leave. He 
sponsored bills to provide employer tax incentives for public-private 
partnerships for on-site child care.
  In an era of indifference, Dennis DeConcini has demonstrated concern 
for those whom Hubert Humphrey described as being in the ``dawn and 
dusk of life.'' He has consistently supported funding for child 
nutrition and education programs, and sponsored legislation creating a 
national program for the identification and prevention of elder abuse. 
He has been particularly sensitive to the health needs of the elderly, 
leading the fight for increases in funding for home health and hospice 
care.
  At the same time, he has vigorously opposed threats to the fabric of 
society: crime, drugs and violence. He authored the Anti-Drug Abuse Act 
of 1988, the most comprehensive anti-drug legislation in our national 
history, and made it possible for military aircraft to protect U.S. 
borders from drug smugglers.
  Dennis DeConcini believes that a sound society requires a sound 
economy. For many years, he has been leading the battle to cut 
Government waste, and has succeeded in limiting funds the Federal 
Government can spend on public relations and motor vehicles. He is the 
founder and co-chairman of the Senate Grace Commission Caucus, a 
bipartisan group which looks for ways to eliminate waste and abuse. And 
he literally puts his money where his mouth is. He opposed a pay raise 
for Members of Congress. When the legislation passed, and his paycheck 
got bigger, he gave the increase to the Treasury to reduce the national 
debt.
  Dennis DeConcini is a real Westerner, from a long time Arizona 
family. He brought to the Senate the candor and directness of the Old 
West, and the commitment of a man who has spent his life in the law, as 
lawyer, law enforcement official and legislator. The Senate and the 
Nation will miss him.

                          ____________________