[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 134 (Wednesday, September 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11245-S11246]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          TRIBUTE TO RETIRING SENATOR MARK HATFIELD OF OREGON

  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I rise today to bid farewell to our 
distinguished colleague from Oregon, Senator Mark Hatfield. Senator 
Hatfield's career in the Senate has spanned three decades, a record of 
service that the State of Oregon, as well as the rest of the Nation, 
should be proud of.
  Senator Hatfield has devoted his entire adult life to serving the 
people of Oregon, as an educator, a statesman, a public servant of the 
highest caliber. Senator Hatfield's long and distinguished career began 
as college professor and dean at Willamette University. He has served 
in both the Oregon House and Senate, as Oregon's youngest secretary of 
state, its Governor, and, since his election in 1966, as the longest-
serving U.S. Senator from the State of Oregon. Senator Hatfield's 
commitment to the people of Oregon is unquestionable. In announcing his 
retirement, Senator Hatfield explained, ``Thirty years of voluntary 
separation from the State I love is enough.'' As I am sure my 
colleagues will agree, Oregon's gain is the U.S. Senate's loss.
  Senator Hatfield served as the chair of the Senate Appropriations 
Committee from 1981 to 1987, and in 1995 he returned to the helm of 
that committee. As chairman and in the Senate as a whole, he often 
helped fashion bipartisan compromises, putting the good of the country 
ahead of partisan politics. I had the good fortune to work with Senator 
Hatfield as part of the Mainstream Coalition, which tried to break the 
gridlock surrounding health care reform.
  Senator Hatfield is not afraid to stand up for what he believes is 
right, even when it means going toe-to-toe with his own party or 
disregarding popular public opinion. In 1995, during the fight over the 
balanced budget amendment, Senator Hatfield stood by his beliefs, in 
the face of enormous pressure from his own party, and voted against the 
amendment.
  In addition to his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Mark Hatfield also 
served his country as a Navy Lieutenant in the Pacific theater in World 
War II. He was at the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and served in 
the occupation of Hiroshima after the dropping of the atomic bomb. This 
experience gave him a deep and unshakable commitment to peace, leading 
him to vigorously oppose war and nuclear proliferation. As Governor of 
Oregon, he spoke out against Lyndon Johnson's policies on Vietnam. He 
helped author legislation passed by the Senate in 1992 calling for an 
end to U.S. nuclear testing, legislation that I supported. He also 
helped found the Oregon Peace Institute and the U.S. Institute for 
Peace.
  Mr. President, I have the deepest respect and admiration for our 
friend and colleague from Oregon, and I say with confidence that he 
will be deeply

[[Page S11246]]

missed by every Member of this Chamber. I wish him all the best as he 
returns to his home State of Oregon and resumes his career in 
education, and I thank him for his dedicated service to this body and 
the Nation.

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