[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 45 (Thursday, March 28, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S3150]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            EDMUND S. MUSKIE

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I wanted to take a few moments today to 
speak about the death of former Senator Edmund Muskie.
  I first met Ed Muskie during his visits to my family's house in 
Connecticut more than 30 years ago as he traveled back to Maine from 
Washington.
  And like my father before me--I was honored to serve with him in 
Congress. I came to greatly admire and respect his leadership, his 
conviction, his knowledge and his great devotion to public service.
  Edmund Muskie was a truly dedicated member of this body for 22 years. 
He served both the people of Maine and all the American people as a 
committed and able legislator.
  And when his party and his President called on him he answered. He 
twice ran for national office as a Democrat: Once for Vice-President in 
1968 and once for the Democratic nomination for President in 1972. And 
he finished his career as Secretary of State, under President Carter in 
1980.
  Throughout his more than two decades of public service Ed Muskie was 
ahead of his time in his efforts to keep our environment clean and 
America's fiscal house in order.
  He earned the apt nickname ``Mr. Clean'' for his pioneering work on 
the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, both of which he shepherded 
through the Senate. Generations from now, when Americans are enjoying 
our safe and healthy air and water, they should thank Edmund Muskie for 
having the foresight and vision to place a clean environment on top of 
the political agenda.
  And even before the era of exploding federal deficits in the 1980's, 
Edmund Muskie strived to bring fiscal discipline to Congress, as 
chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.
  Yesterday, former President Jimmy Carter said he had ``never known 
any American leader who was more highly qualified to be President of 
the United States.'' And it is to the American people's misfortune that 
a man of such principle never had the opportunity to reach the Oval 
Office.
  As a fellow Democrat and Northeasterner I remain committed to the 
policies that Edmund Muskie so energetically championed as a U.S. 
Senator.
  My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Jane, his children, his 
friends and the people of Maine.

                          ____________________