[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 141 (Thursday, October 3, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S12279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   A TRIBUTE TO SENATOR ALAN SIMPSON

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I rise at this time to pay tribute to my 
friend and colleague, Alan Simpson, who is retiring after serving for 
18 years in this body.
  None of us should have been surprised by Al's entrance into politics. 
After all, he learned firsthand about the life of a public servant from 
his father, Milward, who served the people of Wyoming as Governor from 
1954 to 1958 and as a U.S. Senator from 1962 to 1966.
  After graduating from college, Al Simpson began serving his country 
as a 2d lieutenant in the U.S. Army where he was a member of the 5th 
Infantry Division and the 2d Armored Division during the Army 
Occupation in Germany. In 1956, he returned home, went to law school, 
and joined his father's law firm in Cody, WY. In 1964, he was elected 
to the State legislature where he represented his home county for 13 
years.
  Mr. President, regardless of whether one thinks that it was destiny 
or industry that brought Al Simpson to Washington, his 18 years of 
service have left an indelible legislative mark.
  Since he became chairman of the Judiciary Committee's Immigration 
Subcommittee, the Senator from Wyoming has worked assiduously in 
developing tough laws to crack down on illegal immigration and 
commonsense policies to govern legal immigration. Indeed, it is a 
fitting testament to his efforts that one of the last measures passed 
in the 104th Congress was an immigration reform bill that he authored.
  But immigration is just one of the many contentious issues that Alan 
has been willing to take on. As a member of the Senate Finance 
Committee, he recognized the demographic strains that Social Security 
and Medicare will face in the coming decades and was one of the first 
Senators to bring serious attention to this issue.
  Mr. President, Al Simpson and I have agreed on many issues and 
disagreed on many others, but as one trial lawyer to another, I have 
always had a profound respect for his directness, his tenacity, his 
candor, and most of all, his ability to tell a good joke. While we 
shall all miss his good humor and good counsel, we wish both him and 
his wife, Ann, all the best in their future endeavors.

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