[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 135 (Thursday, September 26, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11411-S11412]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO SENATOR WILLIAM S. COHEN

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, the State of Maine shares with my own 
beloved State of West Virginia a common character, a self-reliance born 
of long struggle with stony fields, harsh weather, and rich natural 
treasures that defy easy capture. As West Virginia coal miners daily 
confront the dangers below ground, battling to bring out the black 
compressed energy created eons and eons ago, the fishermen of Maine 
venture forth over the tempestuous seas to wrestle a living from the 
cold waters of the Atlantic. Farmers in both States work sloping fields 
of thin soils studded with loose rock to bring home their harvests. And 
emerging industries in both States must overcome the isolation of 
locations somewhat outside the main avenues of commerce. From these 
challenges comes a certain independence of judgment, and a mindset that 
addresses the merits of each decision before taking action.
  The senior Senator from Maine exemplifies this independence of 
judgment. On January 3, 1979, William S. Cohen became the 1,725th 
Member sworn in as a United States Senator. He joined the Senate after 
serving in the House of Representatives for three terms. Prior to his 
service in Congress, he had been a lawyer and member of the city 
council in Bangor, ME.
  During his 18 years as a Senator from Maine, Senator Cohen's 
thoughtful, reasoned, and soft-spoken approach to policymaking has 
earned the respect and admiration of his colleagues. As a member, 
chairman, or subcommittee chairman on the Special Committee on Aging, 
the Armed Services Committee, the Governmental Affairs Committee, and 
the Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Cohen has influenced a 
broad range of issues affecting our Nation. Always, he has attempted to 
keep the legislative process moving by being open to compromise and 
negotiation. He has been a key player in attempts to forge a bipartisan 
consensus on a number of difficult issues, from health care to missile 
defense programs. And he has always exercised his own judgment, relying 
on his own study and reflection rather than on party rhetoric, before 
taking action. He has been willing to cross party lines on contentious 
issues despite great pressure.

[[Page S11412]]

  Himself a poet and author of eight books of fiction and history, 
Senator Cohen knows that it is as hard to accurately recount history 
and to draw lessons from it, as it is to create a complete and 
consistent fictitious history, which he does so well in his novels. His 
ability to draw upon the lessons of history and the possibilities of 
fiction is reflected in the diverse references from his reading that 
are found in his witty and pointed questions and statements.
  One of Senator Cohen's books, ``Men of Zeal,'' coauthored in a 
bipartisan effort with his former colleague from Maine, Senate Majority 
Leader George Mitchell, looked at the sorry Iran-Contra affair from the 
perspective of a man who played a critical role in upholding ethical 
standards in Government. Senator Cohen served on the special committee 
that investigated that scandal. A Republican Party member who held to a 
higher standard than party in order to keep the executive branch in 
check, as the Founding Fathers intended, Senator Cohen demonstrated the 
ethical toughness that has always been his most noteworthy and laudable 
characteristic.
  Even before the Iran-Contra scandal, while a member of the Judiciary 
Committee in the House of Representatives in 1974, Senator Bill Cohen 
voted to bring impeachment charges against a Republican President. 
Later, he helped to create the independent counsel law, providing for 
special prosecutors to investigate Executive Branch wrongdoing. He 
worked to reauthorize the independent counsel law in 1992 and 1993, 
over the objections of some of the Members in his own party. Most 
recently, he joined with Senator Levin to sponsor the lobby disclosure 
and gift ban bill that was passed in the last session of this Congress. 
This effort was also marked by bipartisan negotiation and compromise 
that allowed the legislation to move forward.

  Mr. President, Senator William Cohen has enriched the Senate with his 
presence here. Like his former colleague, Senator Mitchell, he brought 
to this floor and to these committee rooms some of the best that Maine 
has to offer the Nation--a willingness to work hard, to make tough and 
principled decisions, and a willingness to seek a common ground to 
serve the common good. And to that, he added his own unflappable good 
nature and his ability to see through partisan politics to the central 
policy compromise that could bring two embattled sides together. Having 
only just turned 56 this past August 28, he is someone about whom I can 
feel confident in predicting that his retirement from the Senate is 
only a prelude to future endeavors in new fields. Therefore, while I 
congratulate him for his work in the Senate, and thank him on behalf of 
the Senate and those of us who have been and are his colleagues in the 
Senate, I also wish for him and his new bride great happiness and 
success in the future.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. WYDEN. I thank the Chair.

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