[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 138 (Thursday, September 7, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1729]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



[[Page E 1729]]


          CONCERNING THE RETIREMENT OF SENATOR CLAIBORNE PELL

                                 ______


                             HON. JACK REED

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 6, 1995
  Mr. REED. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, a remarkable man made an important 
announcement in my home State of Rhode Island and on the floor of the 
U.S. Senate. Rhode Island's senior Senator, Senator Claiborne Pell, 
announced to the people of Rhode Island and to his Senate colleagues 
that he intends to retire at the end of his current term in the Senate.
  The retirement of Senator Claiborne Pell marks the close of a career 
in the U.S. Senate that has spanned three and a half decades and 
witnessed rapid change in America and the world. Throughout these 
turbulent years, Senator Pell never wavered from his commitment to the 
search for world peace or the creation of educational opportunities for 
all Americans.
  Senator Pell's legacy of public service began well before he was 
elected to the Senate in 1960. One month before the Japanese attack on 
Pearl Harbor, Claiborne Pell enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard where he 
served as a ship's cook and able seaman. After America entered the war, 
Senator Pell's family connections could have secured him an immediate 
officer's commission in the Navy, but he chose instead to remain in the 
Coast Guard and serve on the dangerous North Atlantic convoy runs 
between the United States and England in the early years of the war.
  After the war, Claiborne Pell and his wife, Nuala, went abroad where 
Pell worked as a Foreign Service officer for the U.S. State Department. 
During these postwar Foreign Service years, Claiborne Pell worked in 
and around the capitals of Eastern Europe, where he witnessed first-
hand the emergence of communist domination. Despite this experience, 
Pell always knew that communism was doomed to failure and predicted the 
ultimate death of communism long before the Berlin Wall came crashing 
down.
  Following his Foreign Service career and a brief stint in business, 
Pell declared himself a candidate for the U.S. Senate. Pell ran on a 
platform of ``Peace and Opportunity for Rhode Island'' and despite the 
lack of an endorsement by the Democratic party, Pell won the Democratic 
primary and was elected to the Senate in 1960. At that time, one of 
Pell's closest friends in New England politics was Senator John F. 
Kennedy and it was a special delight for Pell to be going to Washington 
with his good friend.
  During his time in the Senate, Claiborne Pell gained a reputation for 
serving the cause of peace and creating educational opportunities for 
all Americans. He has been instrumental in the passage of several arms 
control treaties and protocols over the years, including a treaty 
banning nuclear weapons in space and on the floor of the sea. Senator 
Pell will also always be known for creating the Pell grant, the most 
universally utilized higher education grant available in America today.
  Senator Pell's favorite motto, ``Translate ideas into actions that 
help people,'' is a philosophy that has guided all of his work in the 
Senate, whether it was supporting civil rights legislation during the 
1960's or drafting education reform legislation in the 1990's
  Senator Pell is also known for his energy and unflagging devotion to 
his job. Despite the long hours, late night Senate sessions, and 
weekends working back home in Rhode Island, Rhode Island's senior 
Senator has never wavered in his dogged determination to make life 
better for all Americans. I know that he will bring the same energy and 
compassion to whatever task he turns to next.
  It has been a privilege for me to serve with Claiborne Pell. I wish 
the Senator and his wife, Nuala, good health and happiness in the years 
ahead.


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