[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 139 (Tuesday, October 1, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12120-S12121]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO SENATOR SIMON

  Mr. PELL. Mr. President, I first met the senior Senator from Illinois 
[Mr. Simon] some 40 years ago in Moscow when we found ourselves sitting 
next to each other at the Bolshoi Ballet. Little did we ever think that 
our paths would intertwine so closely in the years that were to follow.
  After Paul came to the House of Representatives in 1974, we found 
ourselves in close collaboration in advancing the cause of education. 
We worked together on a myriad of education issues when he was chairman 
of the House Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education. When he came to 
the Senate more than a decade ago, he joined me on the Education 
Subcommittee and we have worked even more closely together on education 
issues since.
  There is no Member of either House whose opinion on education issues 
I respect more. Paul Simon is the person we turn to for guidance on the 
subjects of literacy and adult education. His is the counsel I have 
valued most in higher education, on issues such as TRIO, institutional 
aid, international education, graduate education, foreign language 
instruction, and student aid. Even when we disagreed, as we did on 
direct loans, I listened to what Paul Simon said, and I have had a deep 
and abiding respect for his advocacy of that cause. While I have 
normally deferred to Paul on library issues, I must candidly admit that 
the opinion of Jean, Paul's wonderfully talented wife, carried equal 
weight on those matters.

  During Paul's first term in the Senate, our paths were to become 
further intertwined when he became a member of the Foreign Relations 
Committee. During his 8 years as a member of the committee he brought 
to its work the energy, creativity, and intellectual capacity which are 
his hallmarks. Much of that time he was chairman of the Subcommittee on 
Africa and he was tireless and eloquent in urging the committee's 
attention to the plight of that often neglected continent.
  Paul Simon is very much an internationalist and he made important 
contributions in such areas as human rights, arms control, and foreign 
assistance. I deeply appreciate having him as an ally in the efforts to 
reinvigorate the Arms Control and Disarmament Administration and to 
restrain the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. He was a 
true stalwart.
  Finally, Mr. President, he brought his passion for the teaching of 
foreign languages to the field of foreign policy. He consistently 
pressed the State Department to broaden its foreign language 
capabilities and every State Department nominee knew that, during a 
nomination hearing, Senator Simon

[[Page S12121]]

was likely to grill him or her on how fluent they were in the language 
of the country to which they had been assigned. Alas, too often Senator 
Simon learned that the fluency was minimal, but he never ceased to 
press the Department to improve.
  Throughout the period we have worked together, I have never failed to 
be impressed by the depth of Paul's knowledge, the quiet deliberation 
with which he pursued his goals, the strength of his convictions, and 
perhaps most important, the wisdom of his counsel. I can think of no 
more decent and dedicated public servant.

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