[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 70 (Friday, May 17, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5299-S5301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            ADM. MIKE BOORDA

  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, it is with a very heavy heart and a 
profound sadness that I take the floor today to pay tribute to a good 
friend, Adm. Mike Boorda. As my colleagues know, Admiral Boorda 
apparently took his life yesterday near his home on the grounds of the 
Washington Navy Yard.
  Mike Boorda was an inspiration to those of us who care about military 
matters and who strive to improve the quality of life of our soldiers, 
sailors, airmen, and marines. He was also an inspiration to our 
enlisted ranks, to whom he demonstrated by example that hard work, 
dedication and commitment can pay off. My dad was a naval aviator in 
World War II. Like my dad, Mike Boorda was a Mustang, he was an 
enlisted man who rose from the enlisted ranks to become an officer. So 
I had a special appreciation for what Mike Boorda did. His career is a 
modern day success story. He was the first enlisted man to rise up 
through the ranks, become an officer, and become the Chief of Naval 
Operations. He was the first one in the history of America. From his 
enlistment in the U.S. Navy in 1956 through his service as Chief of 
Naval Operations, Adm. Mike Boorda epitomized our Nation's finest. He 
was truly a remarkable man.
  Many of my colleagues have described Admiral Boorda's distinguished 
professional history. It is a career rich in diversity, long on 
accomplishment.
  I ask unanimous consent at this point that Admiral Boorda's 
curriculum vitae be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows.

    Adm. Jeremy Michael Boorda, U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations

       Admiral Boorda, born in South Bend, Indiana, in November 
     1939, enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1956. He attained the rate 
     of petty officer first class, serving at a number of 
     commands, primarily in aviation. His last two enlisted 
     assignments were in Attack

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     Squadron 144 and Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 11. 
     He was selected for commissioning under the Integration 
     Program in 1962.
       Following Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode 
     Island, and commissioning in August 1962, Admiral Boorda 
     served aboard U.S.S. Porterfield (DD 682) as Combat 
     Information Center Officer. He attended Naval Destroyer 
     School in Newport and in 1964 was assigned as Weapons 
     Officer, U.S.S. John R. Craig (DD 885). His next tour was as 
     Commanding Officer, U.S.S. Parrot (MSC 197).
       Admiral Boorda's first shore tour was as a weapons 
     instructor at Naval Destroyer School in Newport. In 1971, 
     after attending the U.S. Naval War College and also earning a 
     bachelor of arts degree from the University of Rhode Island, 
     he assumed duties as Executive Officer, U.S.S. Brooke (DEG 
     1). That tour was followed by a short period at the 
     University of Oklahoma and an assignment as Head, Surface 
     Lieutenant Commander Assignments/Assistant for Captain 
     Detailing in the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Washington, D.C.
       From 1975 to 1977, Admiral Boorda commanded the U.S.S. 
     Farragut (DDG 37). He was next assigned as Executive 
     Assistant to the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the 
     Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Washington, D.C. He 
     relieved the civilian presidential appointee in that 
     position, remaining until 1981, when he took command of 
     Destroyer Squadron Twenty-two.
       In 1983 and 1984, he served as Executive Assistant to the 
     Chief of Naval Personnel/Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for 
     Manpower, Personnel and Training. In December 1984, he 
     assumed his first flag officer assignment as Executive 
     Assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations, remaining until 
     July 1986.
       His next assignment was Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Group 
     Eight in Norfolk, Virginia; he served as a Carrier Battle 
     Group Commander embarked on U.S.S. Saratoga (CV 60), and also 
     as Commander, Battle Force Sixth Fleet in 1987.
       In August 1988, Admiral Boorda became Chief of Naval 
     Personnel/Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Manpower, 
     Personnel and Training. In November 1991 he received his 
     fourth star and in December 1991, became Commander in Chief, 
     Allied Forces Southern Europe (Naples, Italy) and Commander 
     in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe (London, England). As 
     CINCSOUTH, Admiral Boorda was in command of all NATO forces 
     engaged in operations enforcing U.N. sanctions against the 
     warring factions in the former Republic of Yugoslavia.
       On 1 February 1993, while serving as Commander in Chief, 
     Admiral Boorda assumed duty as Commander, Joint Task Force 
     Provide Promise, responsible for the supply of humanitarian 
     relief to Bosnia-Herzegovina via air-land and air-drop 
     missions and for troops contributing to the U.N. mission 
     throughout the Balkans.
       Admiral Boorda's military awards include the Defense 
     Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal 
     (three awards), the Legion of Merit (three awards), the 
     Meritorious Service Medal (two awards) and a number of other 
     personal and campaign awards.
       On April 23, 1994, Admiral Boorda became the 25th Chief of 
     Naval Operations.
       Admiral Boorda is married to the former Bettie Moran. They 
     have four children and nine grandchildren; two sons and one 
     daughter-in-law are naval officers.

  Mr. SMITH. Rather than recite his vast and substantial 
accomplishments, I want to talk for a moment about the Mike Boorda that 
I knew. From the first time I met Adm. Mike Boorda, I knew he was 
something special. My first impressions were that he was an extremely 
intelligent, forthright, and principled man. He would tell it like it 
is. He pulled no punches. He had a passion for the Navy, a real 
passion. He had a passion for promoting the well-being of U.S. service 
men and women and for defending the interests of our Nation. When Mike 
Boorda told you something, he looked you in the eye and he spoke from 
the heart. You could take it to the bank. He was a man of his word. He 
was a man of honor. He was a man of great courage.
  As a member of the Armed Services Committee, I had the opportunity to 
work very closely with Admiral Boorda. We frequently spoke on the 
phone. We met in hearings and private meetings, over dinner or just in 
passing. We also spent a great deal of time together during the base 
closure process.
  No one took the challenge of downsizing our infrastructure more 
seriously than Mike Boorda. No one fought harder to preserve essential 
naval capabilities. Sometimes Mike Boorda may not have agreed with the 
decisions that he was asked to carry out, but, like any good soldier, 
he carried them out. He never complained.
  That commitment to national security and to our naval-industrial base 
is well known in New Hampshire. Last Spring, when en route to Bosnia, 
Mike Boorda diverted his scheduled trip so that he could spend a few 
hours touring the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard with the Base Closure 
Commission, who was there to look at whether or not we should close our 
shipyard. I remember him calling me saying, ``Senator, do you need me 
there?'' I said, ``Admiral, I know you are a busy man, but the answer 
is yes, the Base Closure Commission needs to hear from you directly and 
personally that this shipyard is critical to the future of our Navy.'' 
He said, ``I will be there,'' and he was. And it made a very profound 
and lasting impact on the people of the Granite State. We owe him a 
lot, an awful lot.
  It made a direct impact on the members of the Base Closure Commission 
whom he looked in the eye and said, ``Ladies and gentlemen, you cannot 
take this base away from me. I need it.''
  Even today, members will tell you that that had an impact on their 
decision. He looked them in the eye, and he told them the Navy needed 
this shipyard. He spoke from the heart, he spoke the truth, and they 
knew it.
  Those who had the privilege to know Mike Boorda personally, to work 
with him professionally, or to merely observe him in action, know that 
he was unique. He had that rare ability to communicate volumes through 
a few carefully chosen words. He was not one to dominate a conversation 
or to chew your ear off. He had few words to say. But when he said 
them, you knew exactly where he was coming from, and he chose them very 
carefully.
  He had the ability to transcend politics and parochialism by framing 
issues in their appropriate context.
  Whether serving a President Bush or a President Clinton, he was still 
Adm. Mike Boorda, naval officer, and a damned good one, Mr. President. 
He had the ability to command respect, discipline and excellence 
through his own example. He was a leader among leaders. The Navy will 
miss him, the country will miss him, his family will miss him, and I 
will miss him. I want to offer my deepest sympathies to his wife, 
Bettie, and their four children.
  There is another aspect of Mike Boorda that I want to emphasize. In 
the Armed Services Committee, former Chairman Nunn and Chairman 
Thurmond have always asked the officers who come to testify to speak 
from their heart, tell how they feel about an issue and not be bound by 
a policy that they may or may not disagree with. Mike Boorda lived up 
to that commitment, and always provided the Senate with honest, candid 
testimony.
  Amidst the grief and sorrow of this incident, I am compelled to offer 
some personal observations and concerns regarding recent events in the 
Navy that may or may not have had some relationship to this tragedy. 
But I want to express them because I feel them deeply, and I think they 
need to be said.
  I have never been one to question the responsibility of our news 
media to report on stories of national interest, nor have I sought to 
impugn the motives of news organizations seeking to root out the truth, 
and I am not doing that now. But it seems to me that the nature of news 
coverage and reporting is changing these days, I fear, for the worse.
  Clearly, the Navy has had some difficult problems over the past few 
years. Some of these were institutional in nature, others were isolated 
incidents and yet others were just plain bad judgment. These are not 
the norm, Mr. President, but we hear about them just the same. For 
instance, we hear about the problems at the Naval Academy, but we do 
not hear about the thousands of young men and women who go through that 
Academy, who make it, become great officers, and sacrifice their lives 
for the country. We do not hear a lot about that.
  The press has a responsibility to report on current events in a 
balanced and impartial manner. For the most part, I believe that has 
been the case. But at some point, there exists a line where responsible 
journalism gives way to excessive badgering. At some point, the 
continuing quest for a story can give way to relentless, unwarranted 
persecution.
  This is a tough town, Mr. President, as you well know. This town can 
consume people. There is a lot of pressure--pressure on families, 
pressure on individuals, pressure to get the job done. It is not a 
report to work at 9 o'clock and go home at 5 town. Admiral Boorda knew 
that, and when a crisis erupted, he was on the job, night or

[[Page S5301]]

day, whenever necessary. He never questioned that.
  I want to make it clear, I am not criticizing the media or indicating 
their actions had a role in this incident. History will have to judge 
that. But I am suggesting that perhaps it is time that we all--
ourselves as well as the media--step back and take a hard look at the 
course of events that led up to yesterday's tragedy. Perhaps it is time 
to do a little soul searching to make sure things stay in the right 
perspective and to ensure that ethics, morality and fairness are not 
being undermined in the never-ending quest for a ``story.'' Sometimes 
the truth might be more important than the story.
  As I reflect upon this terrible, terrible tragedy to my friend, I 
cannot help but wonder about the seeming lack of balance in the media's 
reporting of Navy events in recent years. All we ever hear about are 
the problems--Tailhook, Academy cheating scandals, F-14 crashes, sexual 
harassment. Certainly these are newsworthy items, and they merit 
coverage and accountability.
  But what about the positive developments? What about the enormous 
progress that the Navy has made in improving the opportunities 
available to women and minorities in the ranks? What about Admiral 
Boorda's ``Seaman to Admiral'' program, which he designed to give 
enlisted personnel the opportunity to aspire to higher achievement, 
like my father did and like Admiral Boorda did. What about Admiral 
Boorda's efforts as Chief of Naval Personnel and as CNO to enhance the 
pay, benefits and quality of life for Navy personnel and their 
families? How much coverage has been devoted to these tremendous 
successes in the U.S. Navy; indeed, in the military as a whole? How 
much praise was heaped on Mike Boorda for his vigorous personal efforts 
on these issues? Sadly, and in my view, unfairly, not enough.

  Let me make one other observation on Mike Boorda. It is personal, but 
I hope that Mike's family understands me saying this.
  I had an occasion to visit his home about 6 weeks ago. Senator Lott 
and myself and our wives had dinner with Admiral Boorda and his wife. 
On the mantel is a picture of the current Pope with one of Mike 
Boorda's sons, who is severely handicapped. What a beautiful picture 
that was of the Pope laying his hand on Admiral Boorda's son. He was so 
proud of that.
  I said, ``Mike, are you Catholic?''
  He said, ``No, but perhaps I ought to be, because the Pope was 
wonderful, and I've never forgotten it.''
  It takes a pretty special person to raise a son like that. Did the 
press report about that? I don't think so. You probably will not read 
anything about that in Newsweek.
  Mr. President, it seems to me we need to stop this trend of 
relentless negative coverage and encourage more balance and 
objectivity. It seems to me that distinguished military personnel, such 
as Mike Boorda, should have their careers and activities judged in 
total, not selectively. It seems to me that Mike Boorda should be 
remembered for his outstanding service to our Nation, for his personal 
initiatives to enhance the military capabilities and quality of life 
for our naval personnel, rather than for some select institutional 
challenges that he inherited or fought to correct, or some other 
isolated occurrence.
  Sadly, this has not been the case. I cannot help but wonder how much 
of an effect the relentless, often excessive, media hounding of Mike 
Boorda and the institution he loved so much had on him. I know for a 
fact it did concern him greatly because we talked about it. We talked 
about it a lot.
  Perhaps it had no effect, perhaps it had a very direct effect. We 
will never know. But either way, we owe it to Mike Boorda, and we owe 
it to his family to search deep within this media and political culture 
here in Washington and, if possible, to find ways to prevent a 
recurrence of this tragedy.
  About 6 days ago, I had my last conversation with Mike Boorda, and I 
remember being frustrated because he was busy that day and he had not 
gotten around to returning my call, which he always did. It was just 
maybe 4 or 5 hours after I placed the call when he apologized and said 
he had been in meeting after meeting and was not able to get back to me 
sooner.
  I relayed a problem to him that I was having on an issue with one of 
his officers. He said, ``Senator, as I recall, the officer that you're 
referring to is a one-star; is that correct?''
  I said, ``Yes, sir, that is correct. It is a one-star admiral.''
  He said, ``Well, I'm a four-star, and I'll take care of it.''
  He did. Mike Boorda was a man of his word.
  Mr. President, on behalf of the people of New Hampshire, who owe Mike 
Boorda a great deal for saving their shipyard, I bid farewell to a good 
friend, a great naval officer, and I offer his family my deepest and 
sincere condolences.
  Mike, rest in peace. You deserve it.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I wish to commend the able Senator from 
New Hampshire, Senator Smith, for the excellent tribute he has paid to 
Adm. Mike Boorda, whom we all held in such high esteem.

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