[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 135 (Thursday, September 26, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S11421]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO ALAN SIMPSON

  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, the Senate this year will lose a long-time 
friend, Alan Simpson of Wyoming. Senator Simpson has served his state 
well for three decades, including 18 years in this chamber, and 12 
years before that in Wyoming's House of Representatives. As many here 
know, he was raised in politics: his father Milward was a former 
governor and U.S. Senator.
  While I congratulate Senator Simpson on his retirement, I also have 
to say I am sorry to see him go. As members of different parties, we 
have not always seen eye to eye. But even in those times I have 
disagreed strongly with him, I have always been impressed by his 
passion. He is a formidable opponent, and any Senator who challenges 
him better be fully versed on the issue and ready for a tough debate. 
Because Alan Simpson is always ready. This smart, principled legislator 
also possesses a unique sense of humor that can inject laughter into 
even the most difficult situations. And on many issues, such as the 
current immigration debate which he has led in the Senate, he has shown 
a willingness to find a bipartisan solution to our mutual problems.
  In a Congress that has become increasingly more partisan, many of 
Senator Simpson's colleagues in both chambers and on both sides of the 
aisle, would do well to heed his example. Compromise and cooperation 
are seen by some as a lack of leadership. But the ``my way or the 
highway'' attitude often short-changes the American people. Senator 
Simpson's willingness to achieve solutions for the greater good is the 
embodiment of leadership.
  On the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Simpson and I have examined 
some of the most pressing issues before us; reduction of our national 
debt and the future of entitlement programs like Social Security, 
Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans' benefits. As colleagues on the 
bipartisan Centrist Coalition we worked together to find a fair and 
reasonable solution to reducing the deficit and controlling the growth 
of entitlements, when the White House and congressional leaders reached 
an impasse.
  Anyone who works with him on these issues knows without a doubt that 
Senator Simpson cares as deeply about the future of our country as 
anyone in Congress. Federal spending on entitlement programs is growing 
at an alarming rate, but suggesting change to entitlement programs is 
considered political suicide by some. But that has never stopped 
Senator Simpson. His work on the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement 
and Tax Reform confirms that he is willing to advocate tough solutions 
to these growing problems. I may disagree with some of his conclusions, 
but the fight to reform these programs, as well as the fight to reach a 
fair balanced budget, is ongoing. I am saddened that he is not staying 
on to help lead these fights. But perhaps in the coming years, all of 
us in Congress will learn to embody the virtues of courage and 
leadership that we have seen in Alan Simpson.

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