[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 134 (Thursday, August 10, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S12313]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                              BOB SELTZER

 Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I want to take a few minutes of the 
Senate's time this evening to salute the career of one of the best 
among us. Tomorrow, Bob Seltzer is turning off his Senate computer 
terminal for the last time, analyzing his last floor debate, perhaps 
writing his last perceptive piece of policy analysis. After spending 
much of the last 17 years serving three different Senators, Bob is 
leaving Capitol Hill for less hectic pursuits. Along with the many 
people who have had the privilege of working with him, I will miss him 
very much.
  Bob was teaching college in Detroit when I was lucky enough to get 
him to manage my first campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1978. Despite 
the odds against a city councilman like me winning his first statewide 
race, Bob maneuvered me into winning and followed me to Washington as 
the chief of my staff. We both dove into the challenges and 
opportunities of this institution, and he was at my side throughout my 
first 4 years. He set up my office, hired my staff, shaped my 
legislative program, wrote some speeches for me and endorsed me in many 
aspects of my job. Even after moving on to other challenges, Bob came 
back when I needed him for another stint on my staff as my 
communications director.
  We learned the ways of Washington together, and we both developed a 
deep love for the Senate. He was as fascinated as I with its traditions 
and procedures, and he became one of a handful of students of the 
Senate who have a deep understanding of how and why things happen here 
they way they do. His unique, wry and creative sense of humor helped me 
and all those he worked with survive the many strains of Senate life. 
He enjoyed poking fun at himself. I relied on his political instincts 
and insights, and on his ability to tell me things straight. His grasp 
of the fundamental principles of what makes our complex society 
function and his incredible ability to analyze and explain a problem 
and argue for a solution to it were invaluable assets to this Senator.
  That ability to paint word pictures of people and problems and their 
solutions which Bob has is truly remarkable. He can write about 
virtually any subject and bring it to vivid life, creating memorable 
images that stay with the listener or the reader. I remember, for 
example, the way he once described his suspicions about someone's 
guilt: ``There may not be a smoking gun, but there's a trail of spent 
shells leading to his door.'' Even his internal office memos describing 
the most mundane administrative matters, which he claimed to be 
terrible at dealing with, contained priceless paragraphs of prose and 
self deprecating humor.
  I would be less than truthful if I did not point out, however, that 
Bob did have a weakness in his writing style, a tendency toward 
excessive alliteration. Perhaps this grows out of his interest in 
literature, which he is going to pursue in the years ahead by opening a 
bookstore. One of his close friends and former coworkers, Chuck Cutolo, 
who also recently moved on from the Senate, called to say that if Bob 
were writing his own headline for the story of this departure, it would 
probably read something like ``Seltzer Severs Senatorial Services; 
Banks on Books to Bring Him a Breather.''
  But this one weakness did not stop Bob from getting two other 
Senators to make him a key advisor after he left my staff. Senator Herb 
Kohl made Bob his legislative director, and he most recently has served 
Senator Frank Lautenberg in that same capacity. They probably don't 
know it, but Bob continued to help me, in his spare time. He continued 
to be a political strategist and advisor, and I hope he continues to 
give me the benefit of his extraordinary skills and his trenchant 
wisdom.
  When we came here together he was a young man. He's now old enough to 
be beloved. And that he is.


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