[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 98 (Friday, June 28, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7295-S7296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO MOLLIE BEATTIE

  Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I rise today to express my sorrow over the 
death last night of Mollie Beattie who was, up until just a few weeks 
ago, the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Mollie Beattie 
was a courageous and determined woman for whom all of us who knew her 
had the most tremendous respect.
  As I mentioned, just up until a few weeks ago, she was Director of 
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and resigned from that because of 
the battle she was undergoing with brain cancer. Her death, Mr. 
President, is a great loss to this country. We have lost a committed, 
dynamic professional whose devotion to the conservation of our Nation's 
natural resources has benefited us all and will continue to improve the 
lives of our children and our grandchildren.
  Mr. President, as a way of commemorating Mollie's contribution and 
her spirit, I am honored to cosponsor S. 1899, a bill to designate 8 
million acres of wilderness within the 19-million acre Arctic National 
Wildlife Refuge as the Mollie Beattie Alaska Wilderness Area. It seems 
to me this is a wonderful tribute to a person whose appreciation of 
wild places has been a lodestar for her career. I am grateful to 
Senator Stevens for sponsoring this resolution along with Senator Leahy 
and Senator Murkowski.
  Many of you knew Mollie and recognized that she had incredible energy 
and vitality, and she brought all that to the Fish and Wildlife Service 
during her 3-year tenure there. She was the first woman to lead the 
Service, and she did an extraordinary job during a period when her 
agency was faced with increased budget cuts, public scrutiny and 
criticism. Her commitment to conservation of natural resources and to 
the people that work for the Fish and Wildlife Service made her an 
effective and well-respected advocate.
  Throughout her serious illness, Mollie continued to lead the Service, 
demonstrating the strength of courage that made her unquestionably an 
extraordinary leader. She refused to let the serious operations and 
treatments for her cancer keep her from the job she loved. Mr. 
President, I have had the privilege of working with Mollie Beattie on a 
number of issues important to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Just last 
month, on May 16, despite her poor health, she came to my office to 
urge me to help in

[[Page S7296]]

Congress to maintain the integrity of the 90-million-acre national 
wildlife refuge system. Her concern and devotion for the conservation 
goals to the Fish and Wildlife Service were clear and constant 
throughout her career.

  I just want to point out one instance of the modesty that she had. On 
June 14, she was featured as the ABC News ``Person of the Week.'' As a 
condition of that interview, she insisted that the program highlight 
the importance of the Endangered Species Act above her own 
accomplishments. Her deep commitment to the conservation of endangered 
species led her to carry out a number of important administrative 
changes to improve that act.
  Mollie's career was illustrious even before becoming Director of the 
Fish and Wildlife Service. She was executive director of the Richard 
Snelling Center for Government in Vermont. Prior to coming to 
Washington, she was commissioner of the Vermont Department of Forests, 
Parks and Recreation. She was program director for the Windham 
Foundation, managing 1,300 acres of farm and forest land for wildlife. 
And she was a teacher of resource management to private landowners for 
the University of Vermont.
  Mollie participated in a wide variety of nonprofit conservation 
initiatives, including serving as a board member of the American 
Forestry Association, the Vermont Land Trust, and the Vermont Natural 
Resources Council. She also chaired a Defenders of Wildlife commission 
on the future of the National Wildlife System in Vermont's Nonpoint 
Water Pollution Task Force.
  So, Mr. President, all of us have reason to be deeply indebted to 
Mollie Beattie for her distinguished public service and great 
contribution to the protection of fish and wildlife and wide open 
spaces. And all of our prayers are with her and her family today.
  I thank the Chair.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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