[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 71 (Tuesday, May 2, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S6014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       TRIBUTE TO RICHARD CLARKE

 Mr. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, leadership grounded in common 
sense and compassion and elevated by imagination and vision is the 
hallmark of Richard Clarke's 30-year career at Pacific Gas & Electric 
Co. [PG&E], the last 8 as chairman of the board and chief executive 
officer.
  As his retirement nears, I should like to salute him. Over the years, 
first as mayor of San Francisco and now as U.S. Senator, I have worked 
closely with Richard. Not only on questions involving utility service, 
but on a broad range of community issues, I have known Dick as a person 
who quickly gets to the heart of issues and directly speaks his mind.
  Even further, he has been involved in a wide range of charitable and 
civic activities, and gives meaning and substance to the accolade 
``civic leader.''
  During his tenure as PG&E's CEO, Richard Clarke made environmental 
improvement a company priority and created programs that implemented 
policies to conserve energy. So effective were these innovations that 
PG&E received the President's Environment and Conservation Challenge 
Award in 1991, the Nation's highest recognition for corporate 
environmental excellence. In that same year, then President Bush named 
him to the President's Council of Sustainable Development.
  At the same time, Richard, as chair of the Bay Area Council and the 
Committee on Jobs, worked to bring together other business leaders of 
San Francisco business and focus their collective knowledge and talents 
on ways to make government more efficient and the economy stronger.
  Under Richard Clarke's guidance, PG&E has won national recognition 
for improving the workplace by establishing child day-care centers for 
employees and advancing opportunities for women and minorities.
  His sense of community concern and compassion is reflected in his 
effort of such worthwhile efforts as Francisco Food Bank and Project 
Open Hand, which provides nourishing meals to people living with AIDS, 
to United Way and the San Francisco Symphony, where he serves as a 
board member. He personally developed and championed programs that 
encourage PG&E employees to become mentors to disadvantaged young 
people and to provide guidance to small, developing businesses in the 
inner city.
  As he retires, Richard Clarke leaves behind a remarkable record of 
accomplishment--success in business and community affairs. He takes 
with him the admiration and respect of all those who have worked with 
him, and who wish him all the best in retirement.


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