[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 137 (Wednesday, September 6, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S12751]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                 CLAIBORNE PELL: A TRUE PUBLIC SERVANT

  Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, in his commencement address at Syracuse 
University in 1957, Senator John F. Kennedy called American politics 
one of this country's ``most neglected, most abused, and most ignored 
professions.''
  ``As one who is familiar with the political world,'' Senator Kennedy 
told the graduates: ``We stand in serious need of the fruits of your 
education. Bear in mind, as you leave this university and consider the 
road ahead, not the sneers of the cynics or the fears of the purists.'' 
Instead, he urged us to bear in mind that politics has been a home as 
well as a noble career to America's best and brightest.
  In the early days of our Republic, there were George Washington, 
Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and 
George Mason, to name but a few.
  John Kennedy had a way of making you feel good about yourself as well 
as your country, and he inspired many of us to look for ways to serve 
our country to preserve its strengths and address its weaknesses. This 
is one of the reasons so many of us look back on the Kennedy 
administration with fondness and respect, and with a knowledge that we, 
as individuals, and we, as a country, are forever indebted to President 
Kennedy for nurturing that spirit.
  We are also indebted to another man who has dedicated his life to 
that spirit: Senator Claiborne Pell.
  Through the years it has been my privilege to work with the senior 
Senator from Rhode Island, I have only known him to stress the 
positive, never the negative. He has always looked for the best in us, 
instead of dwelling upon our faults. Never once have I heard him berate 
an opponent, or disparage this institution.
  He has sought to bring us together instead of divide us. To make the 
system work better, instead of despairing it.
  To Senator Pell, as it was with President Kennedy, politics is an 
honorable profession, an enriching experience and meaningful service. 
The political arena is where ordinary people can accomplish great 
things. Claiborne Pell understood that.
  In announcing his intention to leave the Senate, this gentle and good 
man remarked:

       I continue to believe that government, and the Federal 
     Government in particular, can and should make a positive 
     impact on the lives of most Americans.

  Through his efforts, the Federal Government has made a positive 
impact.
  In his 34 years in the Senate, Senator Pell used the system, with all 
of its faults and limitations, to make our country a better place to 
live, a better place to work, and a better place to raise a family. He 
has taken a leading role in passage of much of the landmark education 
legislation of the past three decades, including reducing financial 
barriers to higher education, with the educational grants that bear his 
name. He has taken a leading role in the creation of the Nation's most 
important educational and cultural institutions, including the National 
Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
  He has also sought to make not only the country, but also the world, 
a better place in which to live and work. As a U.S. Senator and 
chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has worked 
tirelessly to promote international cooperation through his work on 
behalf of arms control agreements and international environmental 
treaties. As Senator Moynihan pointed out yesterday, Senator Pell has 
``brought to the Senate floor two of the most important treaties for 
the control of nuclear weapons in our Nation's history.''
  Just this year, he proudly represented the Senate at the 50th 
anniversary of the United Nations. This was fitting, as Senator Pell 
was at the United Nation's opening ceremonies 50 years ago, and he has 
been instrumental in the effort to further the noble goals that 
inspired the United Nation's creation in the first place.
  Mr. President, this is statesmanship at its finest. It is the quest 
of peace--for international cooperation for the benefit of the United 
States and the benefit of humankind.
  Although Claiborne Pell is leaving the Senate, he has pledged to 
continue ``to fight for the values and programs'' that he considers 
vital.
  How pleased I was to hear that promise. We will continue to need his 
spirit, his energy, and his dedication to making the good fight. 
Therefore, instead of saying goodbye, I will simply thank him for the 
years he gave to the people of Rhode Island and to the people of this 
great country.
  I urge all of my colleagues in the Senate and in the House, and those 
in other great political arenas, to be a bit more like Senator Pell, to 
look for the high roads, not the lowest ones. We should summon 
America's best to step up onto the political stage, not scare them away 
from it. That is something Claiborne Pell has done remarkably well for 
34 years.
  I yield the floor.

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