[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 207 (Friday, December 22, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S19271-S19272]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 AWARD PRESENTED TO ARTHUR S. FLEMMING

 Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President. I want to share with my 
colleagues the remarks made by William L. Taylor in presenting to Dr. 
Arthur S. Flemming the American Civil Liberties Union's Human Rights 
Award. These thoughtful remarks outline the career of a man who truly 
represents the highest ideal of public service.
  Antoinette and I have enjoyed a warm personal friendship with Dr. 
Flemming and his wife Bernice for many years. In addition to the number 
of significant Federal posts held by Dr. Flemming, he served for a time 
as the president of the University of Oregon. As someone who has 
followed Dr. Flemming's professional and personal life with interest 
and respect, I can say that no one is more deserving of the ACLU's 
Human Rights Award than Dr. Flemming, as Mr. Taylor's fine remarks make 
amply clear.
  Mr. President, I ask that Mr. Taylor's remarks be printed in the 
Record.
  The remarks follow:

  Remarks of William L. Taylor in Presenting the ACLU's Human Rights 
Award to Arthur S. Flemming at the Annual Dinner of the Virginia ACLU, 
                            December 9, 1995

       The American Civil Liberties Union does itself honor by 
     honoring Arthur Flemming and it does me a great honor by 
     asking me to introduce Arthur.
       Arthur is, in my view, the greatest exemplar of public 
     service in this nation in the 20th Century. He served in the 
     federal government over a period of more than 40 years 
     beginning in 1939 as an appointee to the Civil Service 
     Commission of President Roosevelt and ending in the early 
     1980s when he was Deputy Chair of the White House Conference 
     on Aging, a member of the Commission on Wartime Relocation 
     and Internment of Civilians and Chairman of the U.S. 
     Commission on Civil Rights, a post from which he was fired by 
     President Reagan because Arthur believed in civil rights. But 
     after these 40 plus years--and at the age of 77, Arthur began 
     a new career serving the public in the private sector by 
     heading coalitions and groups that work for the goals Arthur 
     is most deeply committed to--preserving Social Security, 
     extending health care to all and advancing the civil rights 
     of all persons.
       But it is not simply his longevity in public service that 
     makes Arthur Flemming's career remarkable. (although I cannot 
     refrain from noting that Arthur was born in 1905, 15 years 
     before the ACLU was founded--so they have been advocates for 
     justice for about the same period of time). It is also the 
     quality of his service that makes him a long distance runner. 
     Everybody who knows Arthur has his own story about Arthur's 
     readiness to travel whenever he hears the call (I can 
     remember in 1988 getting a call from an editor of the Yale 
     Law Journal who said he wanted to extend an invitation to 
     Arthur to speak at a symposium on the 20th Anniversary of the 
     Fair Housing Act. He called me because he wondered whether 
     Dr. Flemming would be able to make the trip to New Haven. At 
     the time I got this call, Arthur was preparing to travel, I 
     think to 28 cities in 30 days to speak on behalf of the 
     Republicans for Dukakis). But what is more impressive than 
     Arthur's seeming inability to stay away from airports is the 
     reason he travels. Other people of renown travel 
     to participate or be seen at international conferences, to 
     go to dinners with other famous people. Arthur travels to 
     attend meetings and rallys where he will have the 
     opportunity to communicate with everyday people on the 
     issues he most cares about--health care, civil rights and 
     civil liberties and other issues that affect the dignity 
     and well being of the American people.
       And he is ready and willing to do the work in the trenches 
     that other people may spurn once they reach a certain 
     position. I remember in the 1980s going with him to a meeting 
     of State civil rights officers where he had been asked to 
     listen to the whole day's proceedings and then give a 
     summation. By mid-afternoon, as the sessions went on (and on) 
     most of us were flagging, but Arthur was still paying rapt 
     attention. At 5:30, Arthur gave not only a fine analytical 
     summary of what people had said--but he delivered an 
     inspirational speech, rallying the troops to keep the faith 
     during the hard times of the 80s.
       And that talk was characteristic of so many I have heard 
     Arthur give during the years we have worked together at the 
     CCR. As Elliot Richardson has observed, Arthur speaks with 
     ``simplicity, force and deep conviction.'' He has, I might 
     add, the gift that all of the great advocates I have known 
     have--an ability to understand complex matters and then 
     reduce them to their essentials so that people will 
     understand what is at stake. And despite many years in 
     Washington, he has never become so jaded as to lose the 
     capacity to be angered at injustice. So, for example, when 
     the Reagan Administration pursued its policy of denying 
     people welfare benefits without affording them due process 
     and then ignored court orders to rectify the situation except 
     in the jurisdiction 

[[Page S19272]]
     where they were issued--Arthur led the charge to expose and change this 
     heartless policy.
       My time is growing short and I have barely scratched the 
     surface. But I could not close without mentioning Arthur's 
     contribution to other institutions that are fundamental to 
     the values and aspirations of the nation. In between his 
     periods of government service, Arthur was President of three 
     universities--Ohio Wesleyan (his alma mater), The University 
     of Oregon and Macalester College. In these posts among many 
     other things he promoted public service and helped extend 
     opportunity for minority students. Arthur's service is also 
     rooted in his religious convictions which he has made 
     manifest through work in the United Methodist Church and the 
     National Conference of Christians and Jews.
       As for the institution of the family, Arthur and Bernice, 
     his wife of 60+ years, have raised a family of 5 children, 
     who have made contributions of their own--although you may 
     not be surprised to hear (after what I've said) that in this 
     area there are those who believe that the lion's share of the 
     credit belongs to Bernice.
       So, for all these reasons and many more, Arthur has earned 
     the title bestowed on him by Bernice in her affectionate and 
     occasionally irreverent memoir--``Crusader At Large''. His 
     indominatable spirit and his unflagging optimism should serve 
     as an inspiration to all of us who think we may be suffering 
     burnout in these meanspirited times. Arthur has richly earned 
     this honor by the ACLU and the admiration of all who care 
     about social justice.

          COMPLIMENTING THE POSTAL SERVICE ON A JOB WELL DONE

 Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, in these days of budget crisis and 
heated rhetoric, it is very easy to become cynical or disillusioned 
about government. In fact, some people around here would have you 
believe that the Government is simply incapable of playing a positive 
role of any kind.
  So, Mr. President, I wanted to rise today and recognize one 
Government entity, the U.S. Postal Service, for the good work it is 
doing for Americans.
  Earlier this month, the State of Oregon completed the primary phase 
of the Nation's first mail-in congressional election. That's right, 
over a 3-week period, Oregon voters mailed in their ballots for the 
State's open Senate seat.
  While vote-by-mail has its skeptics, the results in Oregon were 
impressive. Some 52 percent of Oregon voters cast their ballots, as 
compared to the 43 percent who took part in last year's primaries. On 
January 30, the general election will also be conducted through the 
mail system.
  Mr. President, whether or not vote-by-mail is the wave of the future, 
we should certainly commend the Postal Service for its critical role in 
this effort. The hard-working men and women of the Postal Service in 
Oregon saw to it that the ballots were delivered and returned on time. 
Without a postal system that could be counted on, neither Oregon nor 
any other State could even experiment with a mail-in election.
  Oregon is not the only place where the Postal Service is getting the 
job done for Americans. Right now, millions of Christmas cards and 
packages are moving through the Nation's mail system. Believe it or 
not, Postal Service officials are estimating that today, as many as 725 
million pieces of mail will be delivered. This is the delivery volume 
for just 1 day.
  While these numbers may sound overwhelming, the men and women of the 
Postal Service are up to the challenge. As the latest on-time 
statistics confirm, the vast majority of Americans can drop that card 
or letter in the box and be confident that their mailing will be 
delivered on time. In fact, just yesterday, the Postal Service 
announced that its on-time delivery scores had reached a record high of 
88 percent.
  Mr. President, the Postal Service, like any organization, has its 
problems. In the past, I have been critical of both its performance and 
management decisions. But, I have never had cause to question the 
dedication of its people. From the Postmaster General on down, the men 
and women of the Postal Service are getting the job done during this 
Christmas season. They are a welcome reminder that government can work 
for America.
 Mr. MACK. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to support S. 
1260, the Public Housing Reform and Empowerment Act of 1995. S. 1260 
represents a major revision of the United States Housing Act of 1937 to 
reform and consolidate the public and assisted housing programs of the 
United States and redirect primary responsibility for those programs 
away from Federal bureaucracy toward the States and localities. This 
bill represents an important first step towards a complete overhaul of 
Federal housing programs to address the needs of low-income families 
more efficiently and effectively.
  This legislation addresses a growing crisis in the Nation's public 
housing system. Over the years, micromanagement by both Congress and 
the Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD] have saddled 
housing authorities with rules and regulations that make it difficult 
for even the best of them to operate efficiently and effectively. Even 
more important has been the destructive impact these rules have had on 
the ability of families to move up and out of public housing and become 
economically self-sufficient. In far too many places, public housing, 
which was intended to provide a housing platform from which lower 
income families could achieve their own aspirations of economic 
independence, have become warehouses of poverty that rob poor families 
of their hope and dignity.
  Compounding the structural problems of public housing are the dual 
concerns of budget and HUD capacity. Public housing agencies are facing 
a significant decline in Federal resources. Given these limited 
resources, housing authorities need the increased flexibility to use 
their funds in a manner that helps to maintain decent, safe and 
affordable housing for their residents. In addition, HUD itself 
potentially faces a significant reduction in overall staffing over the 
next 5 years. The prospect of diminishing staff resources means that 
HUD will lack the capacity to maintain the same degree of oversight and 
control that it has exercised over the public housing system in recent 
decades.
  S. 1260 addresses the crisis in public housing by consolidating 
public housing funding into two flexible block grants and transferring 
greater responsibility over the operation and management of public 
housing from HUD to local housing agencies. In addition, it creates a 
new streamlined voucher program that is more market-friendly and 
provides greater housing choices for low-income families.
  The bill also ends Federal requirements that have prevented housing 
authorities from demolishing their obsolete housing stock, 
concentrated, and isolated the poorest of poor, and created 
disincentives for public housing residents to work and improve their 
lives.
  While allowing well-run housing authorities much more discretion, S. 
1260 also cracks down on those housing authorities that are troubled. 
Although small in number, these authorities with severe management 
problems control almost 15 percent of the Nation's public housing 
stock. HUD would be required to take over or appoint a receiver for 
housing authorities that are unable to make significant improvements in 
their operations. The legislation would also give HUD expanded powers 
to break up or reconfigure troubled authorities, dispose of their 
assets, or abrogate contracts that impede correction of the housing 
authority's problems.
  I would like to express my deep appreciation to Senators D'Amato and 
Bond, who cosponsored this bill, for their keen interest and active 
support of this legislation. I also wish to express my appreciation for 
the cooperation and support from Senators Sarbanes and Kerry. This bill 
truly reflects bipartisan cooperation, and it specifically addresses 
many of the concerns that have been raised by minority. Finally, I also 
want to thank Secretary Cisneros for HUD's participation in the 
development of this bill. We have endeavored to accommodate the 
Department's concerns to the greatest extent possible.

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