[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 7, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1072-S1073]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO RICHARD G. ``DICK'' FIFIELD

  Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, the agricultural community in Alabama and 
throughout the Southeast have not had a more forceful and competent 
representative than Richard G. ``Dick'' Fifield. For 20 years, this 
loyal friend to has done an outstanding job of directing the Washington 
legislative operations of the Alabama Farmers Federation--widely known 
as ALFA--as the organization's official liaison to Congress. Dick will 
be retiring from his position as ALFA's Director of National Affairs 
and Research on March 1, 1996, and will be sorely missed by all of us 
who have been fortunate enough to know him and work with him over the 
years.
  As a long-time member of the Senate's Agriculture Committee, I have 
had the pleasure of working with Dick Fifield on a great number of 
issues that 

[[Page S1073]]
are important to American farmers, especially those in the South. The 
major legislation on which we have worked includes the peanut program; 
the Food and Agriculture Act of 1981; the Food Security Act of 1985; 
and the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990. The 
peanut, cotton, soybean, dairy, cattle, hog, poultry, and catfish 
programs have his fingerprints all over them. In each case, Dick's 
counsel, insight, ingenuity, and strong leadership have contributed not 
only to their passage and enactment into law, but to their overall 
success during their implementation phase.
  He has indeed been my mentor and teacher. Practically all of my 
knowledge about American agriculture has come from him. There is no one 
more knowledgeable. Doctoral degrees are usually given to those in 
academic circles because of their knowledge about a particular subject. 
I gave Dick the name ``Dr. Fifield'' because I felt he was superior to 
most PhD's. Not only will I miss him as a mentor and teacher, but also 
as a dear friend.
  As ALFA's Washington director, he also works extensively with the 
U.S. Department of Agriculture; the U.S. Trade Representative; the 
Department of the Interior; the Environmental Protection Agency; the 
Army Corps of Engineers; the Statistical Reporting Service; the Farmers 
Home Administration; the Soil Conservation Service; as well as other 
agencies which handle agricultural programs and projects. It is no 
surprise that his friendly face is known far and wide within the 
various corners of the Federal Government.
  He has been an effective representative of farm interests due not 
only to his God-given talents, but also because of his extensive 
experience as a college professor, a geologist, a science editor, and a 
horticulturist. Examples of his influence on Alabama agriculture are 
numerous and varied. For instance, the State's modern farmers market, 
located in Montgomery, was made possible by his submission of the 
original design and his work on legislation and grants to raise the $5 
million needed to built the facility. He started annual farmers market 
days in Montgomery, Huntsville, and Birmingham, establishing a 
producer-farmer market inside Birmingham's Eastwood Mall.
  Dick initiated the ALFA's monthly Food Price Survey and he remains 
the project's director. The food basket report is regarded by the 
business community and the media as one of the State's best economic 
indicators.
  He represented the peanut industry in efforts to protect Section 22 
of the GATT negotiations. He is a member of the Technical Advisory 
Committee of the National Peanut Growers Group; Assistant Director of 
the Farm Crisis and Transition Committee for Alabama; and has served on 
the Governor's Agriculture Policy Advisory Committee and the Energy 
Advisory Committee. Along with the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce 
Environmental Task Force, he helped form a State-wide endangered 
species task force for Alabama.
  Dick received his bachelor of science degree in biology and geology 
from Beloit College in 1951. He continued his education at the 
University of Hawaii, the Wisconsin Institute of Technology, and the 
University of Wisconsin, receiving his master's degree in 1972 from the 
University of Illinois.
  Over the course of his career, he served as an instructor of geology 
at the Wisconsin Institute of Technology; as an exploration geologist 
with the New Jersey Zinc Co.; and as a representative of the college 
textbook division in sales and as a field editor in science with the 
Houghton Mifflin Company. Also, he served in the U.S. Army in the 
counter-intelligence corps as an investigative special agent. Before 
accepting his position with ALFA, he was assistant horticulturist with 
the University of Illinois.
  Dick Fifield's retirement will leave a void for American agriculture. 
He is as knowledgeable as anyone I know of as to the complexity of the 
integral parts of food and fiber production in this country and their 
effects on every phase of the American economy. His goal has been to 
improve the quality of life for rural America while at the same time 
providing consumers with a stable, safe, and cost-effective farm 
programs. I hope he doesn't stray too far, for we will continue to rely 
on his counsel even after he retires.
  I commend Dick for all his outstanding and unwavering service to the 
agricultural community, and wish him and his wonderful wife, Shirley, 
all the best as they retire and enter a new phase of their lives. I 
know he will enjoy having more quality time with his family and many, 
many friends. Both ALFA and the Alabama Congressional delegation will 
sorely miss his strong and principled advocacy for agriculture in our 
State.

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