[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 106 (Thursday, July 18, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8150-S8151]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THOMAS R. BURKE

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise to today to speak a few words in 
remembrance of Thomas R. Burke, whose recent, tragic death at the young 
age of 57 has robbed America of one of its leading health care 
policymakers.
  Many of us in this body remember Tom Burke for his outstanding work 
at the Department of Health and Human Services. Indeed, I first came to 
know Tom over a decade ago during the confirmation process for one of 
the great HHS Secretaries of all time, Dr. Otis Bowen. I quickly came 
to admire Tom's forthright style, which some may have called gruff. But 
everyone respected Tom for his vigor, honesty, and impact.
  In the early 1980's, Tom served as the staff director of the Advisory 
Council on Social Security, chaired by Dr. Bowen. When Dr. Bowen joined 
the Reagan administration as Secretary of Health and Human Services in 
1985, he made a wise decision and chose Tom Burke as Chief of Staff of 
the 110,000 employee department. This was a significant honor and great 
responsibility--and Tom didn't let Dr. Bowen down. He stood as 
``Doc's'' top-most advocate, defender, and protector, until President 
Reagan left office.
  While many remember Tom for the Medicare catastrophic legislation, 
which I will discuss in a moment, Tom must be remembered for his many, 
many other accomplishments at HHS, including initiatives to: Strengthen 
patient-outcomes and medical effectiveness research; launch a public 
awareness campaign against alcohol abuse; propose reforms in the 
medical liability system; and, undertake managerial changes to elevate 
the Indian Health Service and rejuvenate the Commissioned Corps of the 
Public Health Service.
  Tom Burke worked diligently on behalf of our Nation's seniors in the 
area of catastrophic health insurance. While we know that this 
legislation proved to be controversial, there is one aspect of this 
issue about which there can be no disagreement: Tom Burke worked hard 
to accomplish what he thought was in the best interest of the American 
public.

  Indeed, the record must reflect that the original Bowen-Burke 
proposal was a much, much more modest proposal than that which the 
Congress ultimately expanded, approved and repealed. I remember well 
the initial idea which Tom had such a large hand in bringing to the 
forefront of public debate. It was a small add-on to the amount seniors 
pay for Medicare, under $5 a month, in exchange for which seniors would 
have the peace of mind of knowing they had unlimited hospitalization 
coverage. Unfortunately, this was not the provision which became law.
  Tom was widely recognized by his peers for these accomplishments, a 
fact recognized by the special awards he received from Secretary Bowen 
and Surgeon General C. Everett Koop.
  Tom Burke had a long career in public service. In addition to his 
work at HHS, Tom was a member of the Green Berets and also became 
Director of Health Policy Analysis for the Assistant Secretary for 
Health Affairs at the Department of Defense. These two assignments 
served him well in his later Government service.
  Mr. President, after Tom's untimely passing, a number of us who 
worked closely with him wanted to express our admiration of his service 
to the government and of his achievements in health care policy. At 
this time, I ask unanimous consent that the statements of two of this 
body's most distinguished health care leaders--now retired--Senator 
Dave Durenberger, and Senator George Mitchell, be printed in the Record 
at this point.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 Statement of Senator David Durenberger

       Tom Burke will always be my friend. He represents all that 
     is good in making public policy in Washington D.C. We made a 
     lot of it in the 1980's, especially through the Medicare 
     program. It was Republicans and Democrats, Senate and House.
       Our most significant effort was Burke-Bowen or Bowen-Burke 
     or whatever. Neither was elected to Congress, but HHS 
     Secretary Otis Bowen and his Chief of Staff, Tom Burke, made 
     us who were in Congress make sense out of Medicare. They 
     insisted we protect every elderly and disabled American from 
     financial catastrophy because of medical, long-term care, 
     drug price or medigap premium expenses. They created a 
     ``Secretary's Task Force'' to iron out all the varied views; 
     they marched it through all the Committees and the finale--a 
     conference committee in the LBJ. Room on the Senate side of 
     the Capitol.
       I was the most recent Republican chair of the Health Sub-
     Committee of Finance, just replaced by George Mitchell, so 
     Tom treated me with just enough of the deference due my 
     office. But not so much that I didn't know he believed 
     strongly enough in what we were privileged enough to do for 
     America and that he'd find a way to get it done even if we 
     had some disagreements.
       America misses the policy that legislation changed. Its 
     repeal has cost billions. And we all miss Tom now that the 
     Lord has repealed his lease on our lives. Our last joint 
     effort--a year ago--was his initiative too. When I retired 
     from the Senate he called and put me to work helping him 
     convince his beloved Indian University that its Otis Bowen 
     Health Policy Center could really impact Washington if it had 
     a presence here. And of course he'd carry on a part of that 
     presence. Doing all the policy reform work that was left 
     undone during his time with Secretary Bowen.
                                                                    ____


                  Statement of Senator George Mitchell

       Tom was a very devoted public servant who I came to know 
     during the policy debates over Medicare Catastrophes Health 
     Insurance in the late 1980's. Tom believed in the need to 
     help the elderly better cope with the complexities and 
     shortcomings of health insurance. He helped design and 
     promote a Medicare Catastrophic benefit, even when doing so 
     made him unpopular with some members of his political party. 
     He cared deeply for the Medicare program and wanted to 
     improve it for all beneficiaries. Tom fought long and hard 
     for the passage of Medicare Catastrophic, and then renewed 
     his fight during the ultimate repeal of the legislation. He 
     took the defeat particularly hard,

[[Page S8151]]

     but refused to believe that he couldn't continue to serve the 
     public by turning his attention and expertise as an economist 
     to other public policy issues.
       Tom brought a passion to public service. As Chief-of-Staff 
     under Secretary Otis Bowen, he was fiercely loyal to the 
     programs of the Department of Health and Human Services. Tom 
     devoted each day to finding ways to improve upon the services 
     provided to millions of Americans. He was especially 
     concerned with the Medicaid program, and believed that the 
     application of managed care principles could help the poorest 
     of our society. His style was often gruff and ``take no 
     prisoners,'' but his heart was always focused on the right 
     place. His need to be popular fell second to his belief that 
     through hard work he could make a difference to the people 
     served by government.
       Seeing the need to get more value from America's escalating 
     health care expenditures, Tom firmly believed in the need for 
     more and better information about what treatments and 
     therapies work. He concurred with visionaries on the need for 
     a significant investment in health services research to bring 
     about more rationale and science-based medical care. He 
     strongly supported my legislation on outcomes research and 
     was a major force to help establish ``effectiveness 
     research'' as a bona fide organizational responsibility of 
     the Department.
       I am sorry that we have lost such an unusually dedicated 
     and forward thinking public servant. He put politics aside in 
     order to accomplish goals he thought were in the best 
     interest of the public. he was a man of great ideas, the will 
     to make them reality, and a sense of humor that encased a 
     heart dedicated to the American people.

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, one of the things I remember fondly about 
Tom is that his measure of a man's judgment was often to look up and 
question, Is he a long-ball hitter? Judging Tom by his own measure, we 
all must conclude he could hit the home run ball.
  More important than his many professional achievements, Tom Burke was 
a good family man. I want to take this opportunity to offer my 
condolences to his wife, Sharon; daughters, Rosemary, Heather, and 
Kerry; and, son, Brendan. Although the love of a husband and father can 
never be replaced, with God's help and strength, his family will make 
it through this trying time.
  It seems to me that far too often in this institution we get so 
engrossed in partisan and policy battles that we forget that ultimately 
it is people that matter. In losing Tom Burke we have lost a good 
public servant and a good man. We will all miss him.

                          ____________________