[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 128 (Tuesday, September 17, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S10682]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO SENATOR WILLIAM S. COHEN

  Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, our distinguished colleague from Maine, 
Senator William Cohen, will be leaving the Senate at the end of the 
104th Congress. His departure will leave a void for his State of Maine 
and for the Nation that will be extremely difficult to fill. We were 
both first elected to the Senate in 1978 and will now be leaving 
together. He has been a true friend and a wonderful colleague to serve 
with over these last 18 years.
  In addition to being an outstanding Senator and leader on a wide 
range of issues, Senator Cohen is an accomplished poet and spy novelist 
in his own right. Among his books are: ``Of Sons and Seasons,'' ``Roll 
Call,'' ``Getting the Most Out of Washington,'' ``The Double Man,'' 
which he wrote with former Senator Gary Hart, ``A Baker's Nickel,'' 
``Men of Zeal,'' which he wrote with former Maine Senator and Majority 
Leader George Mitchell, ``One-Eyed Kings,'' and ``Murder in the 
Senate.''
  Altogether, Senator Cohen will have served for 25 years in Congress 
when he retires. Born in 1940, his father was a baker in Bangor, ME. He 
received his bachelor of arts degree from Bowdoin College in 1962 and 
his law degree from Boston University 3 years later. He later became 
the assistant county attorney for Maine's Penobscot County and was 
elected vice president of the Maine Trial Lawyers Association in the 
early 1970's. He was the mayor of Bangor, ME and a fellow at the John 
F. Kennedy Institute of Politics. He was elected to the 93d Congress on 
November 7, 1972, and served in the House until his election to the 
Senate 6 years later.
  As a Member of Congress, William Cohen has not been afraid to break 
with his party when his conscience dictated it. Overall, he has been a 
leading advocate of a more assertive American defense posture. This was 
his view long before the defense build-up of the 1980's. As a Senate 
candidate in 1978, his platform was military preparedness and when he 
arrived here, he immediately got a seat on the Armed Services 
Committee. He opposed the SALT II Treaty, strongly supported President 
Reagan's defense build-up, and spoke out against the nuclear freeze. He 
condemned Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq for using chemical weapons 
long before the invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 and in July of that 
year was instrumental in the debate over sanctions against Iraq. He 
served as vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee during the 
late 1980's, working closely with its chairman, Senator David Boren. He 
also served on the Iran-contra committee, on which I served as well.
  On trade issues, he has been for free but fair trade. He has worked 
to ban the import of underweight lobsters and opposed the American-
Canadian Free Trade Agreement.
  Senator Cohen is known as somewhat of a maverick, but there is no 
question that he put the concerns of his country and State at the top 
of his agenda. There is a great need for mavericks--really, I should 
call them independents. There is also no question that his sincere 
interest and leadership in public policy issues at the national level 
has led to many benefits for the American people in general. He will be 
sorely missed after he leaves the Senate early next year, but I join my 
colleagues in wishing him and his lovely wife, Janet Langhart-Cohen, 
well as he embarks on a new phase of his life. I also look forward to 
reading more of his novels in the years to come.

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