[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 198 (Wednesday, December 13, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S18555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO REV. RICHARD C. HALVERSON

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, today the Senate is holding a memorial 
service to remember Rev. Richard C. Halverson, our friend and our 
Chaplain from 1981 to March of this year, who passed away two weeks ago 
after a long illness. To each of us, whatever our individual religious 
beliefs, Reverend Halverson was someone special. To some of us, he was 
a confidant; to others, a counselor; and to still others, a pastor in 
the more traditional sense of the word. To each of us, he was a friend.
  The Senate is, in many ways, a small community with many of the same 
dynamics inherent in small communities across our Nation. We work in 
close quarters and all know each other very well. Each of us have 
forged great friendships here, and each of us has seen great rivalries 
develop among colleagues. We are all public figures whose lives are all 
too often an open book. We come from widely different backgrounds, and 
each of us brings to the Senate a different set of values we hold 
dearly and ideals to which we are firmly and determinedly committed. 
And out of all of that, out of all the differing backgrounds and 
competing philosophies, out of the individual strengths and weaknesses, 
and out of the personal friendships and political rivalries, this 
community of one hundred men and women must produce public policy that 
ensures the well-being of more than two hundred and fifty million of 
our fellow Americans. That is an awesome responsibility.
  As much as any of us, Reverend Halverson understood both the sense of 
community and the awesome responsibility of the Senate. Each morning, 
in his opening prayer, he would try to remind us that the sense of 
community, collegiality, and comity that has always been the trademark 
of this body is vitally important to carrying out the tasks that are 
demanded of us. He would remind us that the Senator on the other side 
of a heated debate is just as committed a public servant as we are. 
That no political party has a monopoly on compassion, or patriotism, or 
integrity. That the American Dream is neither conservative nor liberal. 
And that at the end of the day that sense of community, as Senators and 
as Americans, must prevail if we are to meet the responsibilities that 
have been entrusted to us.
  Reverend Halverson understood that as Senators, our lives--official 
and often personal--are open to more scrutiny than most Americans would 
tolerate. He understood that not only our votes and our speeches, but 
our families and our lifestyles are often open to public review. As 
public officials we have accepted that. Nonetheless, Reverend Halverson 
understood that that scrutiny does take a human toll, reminding us that 
as we would like to be treated with understanding, so we must be 
understanding ourselves. And reminding us that for all of the public 
scrutiny of our lives and our conduct, for all of the public criticism 
that we sometimes receive for our votes and our political and 
philosophical beliefs, for all of the questioning of our motives that 
we must sometimes endure, the work that we do is so important to so 
many people that we must persevere.
  Reverend Halverson always understood that election to public office 
does not take away the pressures that face every other American man and 
woman; work-related stress, family concerns, health concerns, or the 
self-questioning that every individual faces from time to time 
throughout their lives. Similarly, he understood that election to 
public office does not bestow skills or talents that we did not possess 
before; nor does it eradicate any personal weaknesses we possessed 
before our election. But Reverend Halverson was always there to remind 
us that deep within each of us is the ability to meet every challenge 
that our careers and our lives present.
  A few years ago, I was quite ill. I left here one February night with 
a headache and did not return until late in the summer. During those 
months, as he was during all of his 14 years here, Reverend Halverson 
was there for me. I have never forgotten that, and my family has never 
forgotten that.
  Throughout his 14 years as the Senate Chaplain Rev. Richard C. 
Halverson was a committed public servant and a friend to each of us. We 
shall miss him.

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