[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 21, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S570-S571]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      RETIREMENT OF PROCTOR JONES

 Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, on the Appropriations Committee 
we have always prided ourselves for having the best and most 
professional staff in the Senate. We maintain a team of staff who are 
experts on budget and finance and a group of professionals who know 
these agency programs inside and out. In a few days we will be losing 
one of our very best staff members to have ever served this body. 
Proctor Jones, the minority staff director for the Energy and Water 
Development Subcommittee will be retiring from the Senate to take a 
position in the private sector.
  Proctor Jones hails from Twin City, GA. He came to the Senate way 
back in

[[Page S571]]

1960 as a special assistant to one of the greatest legislators to ever 
serve this institution, Senator Richard B. Russell. At that time 
Senator Russell was chairman of the Armed Services Committee and 
Proctor served as a special assistant working on military issues. From 
1966 to 1968, Proctor took a leave of absence and served on active duty 
with the U.S. Marine Corps. In 1968, Proctor returned to the Senate and 
was assigned by Chairman Russell to work on the Appropriations 
Committee. In 1971, he was assigned to what was then known as the 
Subcommittee on Labor--Health, Education and Welfare. So, Proctor Jones 
and I have something in common. We both were close to Senator Richard 
B. Russell and considered him to be our mentor, and, like Proctor, 
Senator Russell also advised me that the only committee to be on is the 
Appropriations Committee.
  In 1973, Proctor took over as staff director for the Subcommittee on 
Public Works for Water and Power Development, and Atomic Energy 
Commission and Related Agencies. In 1978, this subcommittee was given 
its current name, Energy and Water Development. Since that time Proctor 
has served as staff director or minority staff director of that 
subcommittee. Simply put, Proctor Jones has been the Senate's go-to man 
on issues regarding Army Corps of Engineers' civil works, defense 
nuclear weapons development and environmental cleanup, scientific 
research, power marketing administrations, and other energy issues. 
Whether it was the Appalachian Regional Commission or biomedical 
research, the Members of the Senate could trust Proctor Jones to 
understand the impact that the energy and water development bill had in 
their States. Proctor understood that these programs affected real 
people, communities, and institutions.
  Of course, it is difficult to speak about Proctor Joines without also 
referring to Senator J. Bennett Johnston. In 1978, Senator Johnston 
took over as chairman of the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee. 
I am a member of that subcommittee. I can tell you that Senator 
Johnston and Proctor Jones have made an unbeatable team. They really 
mastered that bill and have run it in a straightforward and fair 
manner.
  Mr. President, we do not acknowledge often enough the staff people 
who make this institution run day in and day out. In Proctor Jones we 
have had a superb individual who has dedicated over three decades to 
this Senate. I, for one, would like to express my appreciation for his 
hard work and his outstanding record. I wish him well and thank him for 
a job well done.

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