[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 26 (Tuesday, March 4, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S1922]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM G. DAUSTER

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a most 
valued staff member of the Senate Budget Committee who will leave the 
committee this Friday to join Senator Kennedy at the Labor and Human 
Resources Committee as general counsel and deputy staff director.
  I am speaking of Mr. William G. Dauster, known to every Democratic 
Senator who ever had a question on the budget, an amendment to the 
budget resolution, or a budget point of order, simply as, ``Bill.''
  You could see Bill Dauster on the Senate floor, late at night, at the 
side of Budget Committee Chairmen Chiles or Sasser, or Ranking Minority 
Member Jim Exon. He was the best right hand and the finest counsel 
these Senators could seek.
  As the longest serving member on the Budget Committee, I have known 
Bill since he first walked in the door almost 11 years ago after 
working in private practice as a litigator with the New York City law 
firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Bill Dauster served on the committee, 
first as chief counsel from December 1986 to November 1994, and then 
rose to the position of Democratic staff director and chief counsel.
  I saw Bill grow into one of the most respected and expert voices on 
the budget. His advice and guidance made him an invaluable resource to 
all Democratic Senators. I think he taught a few lessons to some of our 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle as well. But they respected 
him, too.
  Bill Dauster took on more thankless tasks than any reasonable man 
could ask for, including some of the most arcane issues and twists and 
turns of budget process imaginable. And he did it with enormous 
dedication, consummate patience, an abundance of affability, and a 
large dose of excellent humor. Bill doesn't take himself seriously. He 
takes the issues seriously.
  Bill Dauster leaves behind him a string of accomplishments of which 
few can boast, and of which many would envy. He has participated in 
Congress' reception of 11 Presidential budget submissions and 11 years 
of budget hearings.
  He had a strong hand in drafting 8 budget resolutions, the Budget 
Enforcement Act of 1990, the 1987 revision of Gramm-Rudman-Hollings, at 
least a few amendments to the balanced budget amendment, and amendments 
exposing the weaknesses of entitlement caps.
  During that time, Bill also wrote 3 editions of a budget process law 
book, 3 budget law review articles, numerous speeches, and more than 20 
op-ed pieces that have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the 
Washington Monthly, Roll Call, the Hill and the Sunday Journal 
newspapers of suburban Washington, DC. He can be justifiably proud of 
all of them. Bill's keen wit, nimble mind, and ability to turn a phrase 
are as evident and legendary as his extensive library and e-mail list. 
The Budget Committee may have afforded Bill a wealth of opportunities, 
but this body is the richer for it.
  Bill's resume, however, does not do justice to the enormous 
contributions he has made, not just to the budget process, but to our 
fellow citizens as well. He personifies a true servant, not only of 
this great institution, but of the people we serve.
  Blessed with enormous intellectual skills, Bill has also exhibited 
great compassion for the less fortunate among us, especially America's 
children and the disabled. Bill has toiled tirelessly on their behalf. 
And his source of inspiration has always been his family--his wonderful 
wife Ellen Weintraub and their three children, Matthew, Natanya, and 
Emma--to whom Bill is devoted.
  I certainly don't want to make this sound like a eulogy, since Bill 
will be just down the hallway from the Budget Committee. And I trust 
Senator Kennedy will still let us call or visit with Bill to benefit 
from his counsel. So this is not farewell, but merely thank you, Bill, 
for a challenge well met and a job well done.

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