[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 46 (Friday, March 29, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3214-S3215]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO EDMUND S. MUSKIE

  Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I rise to join with my fellow Senators in 
mourning the death of former Senator Edmund S. Muskie of Maine, and in 
paying tribute to one of the most distinguished and influential Members 
of this body during a turbulent period in our history.
  Ed Muskie worked his way through Bates College, where he was a Phi 
Beta Kappa, and earned a scholarship to Cornell's law school. After 
serving in the Navy on destroyer escorts during World War II, he was 
elected to the Maine House, where he served as minority leader. He won 
the Governorship of Maine during the Eisenhower years when no Democrat 
had held the office in 20 years, and was easily re-elected. He 
revitalized the State party and was elected and re-elected to the U.S. 
Senate until his resignation to become Secretary of State in 1980 
during the last difficult months of the Iran hostage crisis. It was a 
time of great tension following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, 
during which the United States boycotted the Olympic games in Moscow.
  Ed Muskie was Hubert Humphrey's Vice-Presidential running mate in 
1968. Few people remember how close that election was, and one reason 
it was so close was the strength Ed Muskie brought to the ticket. He 
started out the frontrunner, but his own campaign for the Presidential 
nomination in 1972 was unsuccessful, damaged by the dirty tricks the 
Nation would only learn about only later. It is ironic, but a tribute 
to the man, that the most damaging thing his enemies could point to in 
his conduct was that he loved his wife enough to lose his usual control 
when they attempted to slander her.
  Senator Muskie returned to the Senate and in 1974 became the first 
chairman of the Budget Committee. I had the privilege of serving with 
him on the committee during my formative early years in the Senate. He 
was a strong voice for budget stability. The processes he established 
for monitoring Federal spending, and his insistence on holding down 
spending across a broad range, including the areas of his own major 
concerns. This is the same process being used today in our attempt to 
achieve a balanced budget by 2007.
  Senator Muskie deserves major credit for most of the important early 
environmental legislation. He held together fragile coalitions of 
liberals and conservatives in budget battles, challenged Presidential 
policies and his own wing of the Democratic party for its failure to 
change. Through it all, he earned the respect of both allies and foes.
  After his stint as Secretary of State, he retired to private law 
practice. He returned briefly to public service in 1987 on the Special 
Review Board on the Iran-Contra Scandal, also known as the Tower 
Commission.
  Ed Muskie was a big man, big enough to still the voices of hecklers 
by inviting them up on the platform with him, big enough early in his 
Senate career to stand up to majority leader Lyndon Johnson at the 
height of his power, and big enough to gain the respect of his fellow 
Senators, and of Johnson himself. He believe in what he called a 
politics of trust, not of fear.
  Ed Muskie was often described as ``Lincolnesque.'' His middle name, 
Sixtus, was the name of five Popes during the 15th and 16th centuries. 
His last name had been shortened by immigration officials from what 
they considered the unpronounceable Polish name of his forefathers when 
his father arrived at Ellis Island. But whatever people called him, 
wherever his names came from, Ed Muskie was his own man.

[[Page S3215]]

  What we remember is not the occasional flash of temper but his 
modesty, moderation, and self-deprecating humor, and his capacity for 
bridging differences. He was a man of great humanity who stood for 
reason and reconciliation in a time of division and disunity.
  Ed Muskie graced this body with his healing and imposing presence, 
his self-deprecating humor, and his personal integrity for 21 years. He 
served his State and country courageously for more than three decades. 
I am honored to have served with him, and want to express my deepest 
sympathy, and that of this body, to Jane, his wonderful wife of 48 
years, and to their children Stephen, Ellen, Melinda, Martha, and 
Edmund, Jr.

                          ____________________