[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 17, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9502-S9503]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO BOBBY SILVERSTEIN

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I rise now to pay tribute to a great 
friend of mine, a close personal friend and someone who has added 
significantly to the Senate and the House over the course of almost an 
entire adult lifetime of work and, moreover, who has added to moving 
America forward in terms of how we feel and how we care about each 
other and really moving America forward toward the ideal of our Nation. 
And that is a nation without barriers to anyone, a nation of 
opportunity for all.
  Mr. President, I speak of Bobby Silverstein, who later this month 
will leave the Senate to teach and establish a center for the study and 
advancement of disability policy at George Washington University.
  For the past decade, Bobby has been my chief counsel and staff 
director of the Subcommittee on Disability Policy. During this time, he 
has been the behind-the-scenes architect of legislation that has truly 
revolutionized our Nation's policy towards its citizens with 
disabilities and expanded opportunities for the more than 49 million 
Americans with disabilities and their families. There is simply not a 
more knowledgeable, skillful, accomplished and respected person in the 
field of disability policy in our entire Nation.
  Bobby Silverstein played a significant role in crafting the Americans 
with Disabilities Act, ADA. Before the ADA, discrimination on the basis 
of disability was wrong, but it was not illegal. Bobby helped me 
fashion a coalition of grassroots and Washington-based advocacy groups 
and demonstrated the significant political strength of this unity. 
Through this coalition, every Member of Congress was educated that 
disability is a natural part of the human experience, that 
discrimination on the basis of disability can be tolerated no longer, 
and that people with disabilities must be judged on what they can do, 
not on the basis of myths, stereotypes or fears.
  His mastery of the issues, unrivaled negotiating skills, patience, 
and excellent working relationships with those in the disability 
community, the business community, the Congress, and the White House 
enabled what many have called the emancipation proclamation for people 
with disabilities--the Americans With Disabilities Act.
  Under Bobby's behind-the-scenes leadership, public policy for 
infants, children, and adults with disabilities and their families has 
been strengthened and expanded in every aspect of life: education, 
employment, civil rights, housing, income maintenance, health, 
transportation, telecommunications, and recreation. In addition to the 
ADA, he was my chief aide responsible for securing passing of 
legislation establishing the National Institute of Deafness and 
Communication Disorders at the National Institutes of Health. This 
Institute has contributed significantly to the knowledge of deafness, 
and has led to improvements in the lives of millions of Americans who 
are deaf or hard-of-hearing, including senior citizens. Bobby also 
shaped legislation to reauthorize the Rehabilitation Act, which 
supports essential job training, employment, and independent living 
opportunities for thousands of adults with disabilities. On October 16, 
1990, the Television Decoder Circuitry Act became law and opened up the 
information available on television to the millions of individuals who 
can benefit from captioned television, including deaf individuals and 
those children and adults who are learning English.
  Prior to this time, people who were deaf, like my brother Frank, had 
to have a great big box that they set on top of their television set 
that would receive the signal and decode it for that television. Those 
units cost, if I am not mistaken, in the neighborhood of a couple of 
hundred dollars. But as my brother said to me one time, that's fine 
when I'm home watching television; I can get the news and the weather 
and other information I need through my decoder on my television. But 
what about when I travel and I stop at a motel or hotel and I want to 
find out what the weather is going to be, or I want to listen to the 
news? I can't take that box with me.
  So, beginning in 1988, 1989, we began having hearings on the 
possibility of mandating every television set sold in America have a 
little chip put in it so that every television could decode the signal 
for closed captioning. I remember the hearings. The companies came in 
and said, ``Oh, no, this was going to cost too much money.''
  Bobby wasn't satisfied. He went to the manufacturers of the chips, 
asked how much it would cost to produce the chips, and if every 
television set had them in it how much would it cost. And it came down 
to mere pennies. So, armed with that information, we were able to get 
that information to our committee, to Members of the Senate and the 
House. The bill passed and, as I said, was signed into law by President 
Bush on October 16, 1990.
  So, every time when you turn on that television and a phone call 
comes in and you want to watch what is going on but you want to turn 
the sound down so you punch that button on your remote and the captions 
come up so you can follow the news and still answer that phone call, 
think of Bobby Silverstein. He is the one who made it happen. It was a 
great law and one that has just helped millions of Americans, including 
people like me who do not suffer from deafness, for just the very kind 
of purpose I just mentioned.
  Bobby also championed the Assistive Technology for Individuals With 
Disabilities Act, protection and advocacy legislation for individuals 
with mental illness, the Development Disabilities Assistance and Bill 
of Rights Act and landmark family support legislation. Most recently, 
Bobby was the lead Democratic staffer for the negotiations that led to 
the bipartisan enactment of Public Law 105-17, the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act--known as IDEA--Amendments of 1997. This 
passed this year. IDEA guarantees a free, appropriate public education 
for more than 6 million children with disabilities.
  Bobby came to the Senate after several years working for Congressman 
Pat Williams of Montana in the House of Representatives, where his 
skills resulted in landmark legislation that established early 
intervention and preschool opportunities for very young children with 
disabilities--what we now call part H. These two programs have enabled 
hundreds of thousands of children to obtain the services and support 
they need to live with their families and develop to their potential.
  In addition to his impressive legislative achievements, Bobby has 
extensive experience working in Federal agencies and the private 
sector. He has drafted policy interpretations for the Office of Civil 
Rights of the United States Department of Health, Education and

[[Page S9503]]

Welfare on issues related to persons with disabilities under section 
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; race and national origin issues 
under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and gender issues under 
title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. In private practice, he 
trained professionals on the legal framework of the Rehabilitation Act, 
as well as serving as legal counsel for parents of children with 
disabilities in cases relating to securing a free appropriate public 
education for their children.
  Bobby Silverstein has won not only my unquestioned respect and deep 
admiration, but that of Republican and Democratic Senate and House 
Members, leaders of the disability community, the business community 
and grassroots activists. His knowledge of the issues and his 
intellectual rigor and honesty are recognized by everyone with whom 
he's worked.
  If Bobby Silverstein says something or is involved with putting 
forward a point of view, everyone knows that he has come to that 
position after meticulous study and careful, objective and reasoned 
analysis. Bobby has taught us all the importance of working together to 
achieve a common goal. He was able to achieve consensus among parties 
with strongly held competing views. The great respect he commands from 
those across the political spectrum is rare and is clearly a tribute to 
his abilities and tireless dedication to good research and sound 
analysis. It is this widespread trust and respect for Bobby and his 
work that has made much of the legislation we've enacted possible.
  Mr. President, I, along with every American, owe a great debt to 
Bobby Silverstein. In all my years in public service, I have not 
encountered a more dedicated, caring and good-hearted person. He 
exemplifies all that is good about public service. He is truly among 
the best and the brightest individuals in the field of public policy. 
In the field of disability policy, he has no equal.
  Mr. President, as you know and as I know and so many people know, as 
we pass legislation here, it gets our name on it. We are the sponsor of 
the bill. When it is enacted into law, it is our name that is on it. So 
often we know it is dedicated staff that really do the work.
  I said so many times that most of the legislation that we pass 
dealing with people with disabilities, if it were not for Bobby 
Silverstein, it never, ever would have happened.
  So, in that way his mark will remain for a long, long time, not only 
here in the Senate but all across America.
  I will yield to my friend and colleague, the Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. JEFFORDS. I could not help but come in and join you, associate 
myself with your remarks for Bob, because I worked with him both in the 
House and the Senate. I agree with everything you said. He did so much 
to assist all of us who wanted to benefit those in the most needy 
situations. I agree with you. If it wasn't for him--and also of course 
Patricia Morrissey on my side, those two who worked so very closely 
together all during that period of time--we would not have accomplished 
so much. Bobby was incredible. I know he is going to have even, 
perhaps, a more useful role now that the basic work is done in the 
profession he is going into. But he is one wonderful person.
  You are to be commended for recognizing that and utilizing him, of 
course, to benefit all of us. I thank the Senator for his comments.
  Mr. HARKIN. I thank my friend, the Senator from Vermont, who again is 
known for his keen intellect, but also a big heart. I appreciate what 
he just said about Bobby Silverstein. I should have recognized the fact 
that the Senator would have worked with him, of course, on the House 
side.
  Again, the people who worked so hard to make our country more fair 
and to break down barriers of discrimination against people--surely no 
one can claim that Senator Jim Jeffords needs to take a back seat to 
anyone.
  Certainly, Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont need not take a back seat 
to anyone. Senator Jim Jeffords has always been in the forefront of 
those fights, especially working on the issue I have been talking 
about, people with disabilities. The Senator from Vermont has always 
been in the forefront assuring that people with disabilities have their 
full constitutional and civil rights in this country. So I appreciate 
what he said about Bobby Silverstein, and coming from the distinguished 
Senator from Vermont, believe me, it means a lot to me and it means a 
lot to Bobby Silverstein.
  Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I have enjoyed working with the Senator 
from Iowa. I think we have been together on every issue here over the 
course of the years. I have been with him, or just a little bit behind 
him, on all of these. I commend him for all the work he has done. We 
both know that without Bobby and Pat Morrissey, we would not have been 
as successful as we were.
  Mr. HARKIN. Absolutely true. I appreciate what the Senator said. It 
has been a real joy working with the Senator from Vermont both in the 
House and in the U.S. Senate.
  So, Mr. President, as the Senator from Vermont said, Bobby is moving 
on. I am absolutely certain that his next endeavor, which is the center 
for the study and advancement of disability policy located at George 
Washington University, will have an immediate and long-term effect on 
national policy for Americans with disabilities. I might just add as an 
aside, Bobby is capable of nothing less.
  So as Bobby Silverstein leaves the Senate, I congratulate him on his 
outstanding accomplishments. I thank him for his tireless service to 
his country. I extend my best wishes to Bobby, to his wife Lynne and 
their sons, Mark and Evan, for continuing success in the many years 
ahead. So, Bobby, thank you for a job well done.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. JEFFORDS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.

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