[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 30 (Tuesday, March 11, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2125-S2126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO MARTY SLATE

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, all of us who knew Marty Slate and who 
worked with him over the years were saddened to learn of his recent, 
untimely death.
  Marty was an exceptionally dedicated public servant. He worked 
effectively throughout his extraordinary career to improve the quality 
of life for working men and women. He served well in many capacities, 
directing the field operations of the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission, leading the ERISA Division of the Internal Revenue Service, 
and as Executive Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. 
Marty also worked hard, on a daily basis, to improve the quality of 
life of those around him, particularly his staff and coworkers.
  Marty was a brilliant lawyer and a gifted manager who knew how to get 
things done. He inspired the people who worked for him and helped make 
them some of the most effective and productive public servants in the 
Nation. Everywhere he went, his ability and dedication brought out the 
very best in his colleagues and his staff.
  Marty was a superb legislative strategist who understood the role of 
Government and the impact that Government could have on working 
Americans. He was the moving force behind the Retirement Protection 
Act, the pension funding legislation that Congress approved in 1994.
  Early in the Clinton administration, Marty brought together 
representatives of the PBGC, Treasury, IRS, Labor, Commerce, OMB, and 
other Federal agencies as part of an impressive task force. The task 
force worked effectively under Marty's leadership to identify the 
problems that caused pension underfunding, and the best solutions to 
those problems. As chairman of the task force, Marty's door was always 
open. No person or group was ever shut out of the process. Needless to 
say, the task force issued its findings and recommendations in a timely 
manner.
  After the task force report was issued, Marty looked to the future, 
and worked closely with Congress on legislation to address the problem 
of pension underfunding. As my Senate colleagues will recall, we 
approved the funding reforms in the Retirement Protection Act, the most 
significant pension legislation since the enactment of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act in 1974. It was an extraordinary 
bipartisan accomplishment, and it was Marty's accomplishment, too. 
Millions of working men and women have pensions that are more secure 
today because of Marty Slate.
  In his years at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Marty 
worked hard to assure that workers did not suffer from discrimination.
  Under his leadership, the EEOC wiped out case backlogs and vigorously 
prosecuted discrimination complaints. As director of field operations 
for the agency, he was responsible for the day-to-day activities of 46 
field offices. The large numbers of working men and women who were 
protected from discrimination because of Marty's efforts owe him an 
enormous debt of gratitude.
  When Marty left the EEOC to work for the Internal Revenue Service, he 
established the Georgetown-IRS Masters of Taxation Fellowship 
Program.'' This program was designed to help those who were not 
historically represented in the fields of taxation and pensions because 
of discrimination and lack of opportunity. Under this program, students 
applied for admission to Georgetown's Masters of Taxation Program, 
while simultaneously applying for a job at the IRS. The IRS, the 
university, and the student-fellow would share the costs of tuition.
  When Marty left the IRS in 1993, he created a similar fellowship 
program at the PBGC. The fellowship programs that Marty created have 
been extremely successful, and have enabled many African-Americans and 
other minority students to break through long-standing barriers and 
find jobs in the fields of taxation and pensions. One graduate of this 
program is now a professor at Catholic University.
  In ways like these, Marty Slate didn't just talk about fair play and 
equal opportunity. He helped to assure that new opportunities for 
African-Americans and other minorities actually existed, and the 
graduates of these fellowship programs will carry on Marty's fine work.
  Marty is warmly remembered by those who worked with him as a person 
who took genuine personal interest in helping them to advance their 
careers. With all his myriad of responsibilities, he was never too busy 
to write a letter or place a phone call to help someone develop their 
career. He was never too busy to reach out. He was there for the people 
he led and managed because he cared deeply about them.
  Marty also loved sports. He was a true Boston Red Sox fan and he had 
a great love for sports trivia. A local radio station in this area has 
a call-in trivia contest for sports fans, which takes place in the 
middle of the night. Marty would regularly set his alarm for 2 o'clock 
or 3 o'clock in the morning and get up and call into the talk show. He 
called so often that he was known on the show as ``Marty from 
Bethesda.'' Marty almost always knew the answer and would win Baltimore 
Orioles tickets. He would then share the tickets he won with his 
friends.
  As a Boston Red Sox fan myself, I am particularly fond of a story 
from Marty's childhood. One day, when he was about 6 years old, he 
wanted to go to Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox play. His parents were 
concerned, because they couldn't go that day, and they didn't want him 
to go alone.
  Marty found a way to heed his parents' advice. The Red Sox won and he 
had a wonderful time. But when he came back, police and emergency 
vehicles were parked on his street. They were there because 6-year old 
Marty had, in fact, listened to his parents. He did take someone to the 
game. The problem was that it was the 3-year-old child of a neighbor. 
And the police were looking for the missing child in the neighborhood. 
Even at that young age, Marty was demonstrating his extraordinary sense 
of responsibility.
  Now that he has left us, all of us who were touched by Marty's 
brilliance and compassion will work harder to carry on his work. That's 
the way Marty would have wanted it.

[[Page S2126]]

  My heartfelt condolences go to the Slate family, to Marty's wife, Dr. 
Caroline Poplin, to his parents, Albert and Selma Slate, to his 
brother, Dr. Jerome Slate, to his sister, Emily Slate, and to all of 
Marty's friends and coworkers. He touched all our lives, and we will 
never forget him.

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