[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 11 (Friday, January 22, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S927-S928]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO DAVID W. DENNIS

 Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to a much-
loved and respected Hoosier statesman, David Worth Dennis, who passed 
away on January 6, 1999, at the age of 86. David Dennis represented the 
eastern section of the State of Indiana in the United States House of 
Representatives from 1969 to 1975. He served with great courage and 
distinction on the House Judiciary Committee during the difficult 
Watergate period.
  David Dennis' commitment to public service began before and extended 
beyond his three terms in the House of Representatives. After his 
graduation from Earlham College and Harvard Law School, he began his 
career practicing law in Richmond, Indiana. He then served as the 
prosecuting attorney for Wayne County, Indiana, and then as a First 
Lieutenant in the JAG Corps of the U.S. Army. He served in the Pacific 
theater at the end of World War II. Shortly after he came home to 
Indiana in 1946, he won a seat in the Indiana General Assembly, where 
he served a total of four terms.
  I first met Dave during his service in the Indiana House of 
Representatives, and I frequently corresponded with him during his 
United States Congressional service. I was pushing the extension of the 
``New Federlism,'' in which states and cities obtained and exercised 
more responsibility. I also was advocating general revenue sharing in 
which the federal government would send money to states and cities 
without strings attached in order that the discharge of these 
additional responsibilities could be paid for. Dave was enthusiastic 
about diminishing federal prerogatives, but somewhat less enthusiastic 
about a distribution of federal revenues.
  Our coming together on the campaign trail in 1974 led to enormous 
mutual respect. The Judiciary Committee was a battleground for efforts 
to impeach President Richard Nixon. Dave was a very loyal Republican 
but, even more importantly, he was a scholarly and thoughtful 
legislator who believed that insufficient evidence had been produced to 
vote for articles of impeachment in the Committee. As additional 
evidence withheld by President

[[Page S928]]

Nixon became known, Dave became outspoken in his condemnation of the 
cover-up and in his demand that President Nixon should resign.
  I was privileged to watch at close range a courageous public servant 
at work who, even in the midst of a partisan election campaign, was 
never in doubt that he should speak the truth as he saw it and let the 
chips fall where they may.
  Neither Dave nor I were successful in the 1974 campaign, but I looked 
forward throughout subsequent years to our meetings. We not only 
reminisced about battles of the past, we discussed the future with 
expectations that great things could occur in our country through 
constructive leadership.
  David Dennis remained a leader after returning in 1975 to practice 
law in Richmond, Indiana. Still active in Republican politics, he 
continued his career as an attorney, where he was loved and respected 
by the Richmond community. He was known for his fairness and his 
dedication to the practice of law. Describing Dave's legal calling, a 
friend quoted in the Richmond Palladium-Item summed up his dedication: 
``He understood it as a service to the community. In the same way, 
David Dennis saw politics as a profession, not a way to get ahead.'' 
Dave was truly an advocate who loved the roles he played in both the 
legislative and the judicial systems of our country.
  I last saw David Dennis at a Republican dinner in Richmond during the 
1994 campaign. He was introduced and received a wonderful ovation from 
Wayne County Republicans, who revered his service and were so grateful 
for his continuing citizenship in the community he loved. I was able to 
keep in touch with news of Dave through his son, William C. Dennis II, 
who served as a remarkably energetic professor at my alma mater, 
Denison University.
  In addition to his extensive public service, David Dennis is 
remembered by friends and family as an engaging storyteller and a 
skilled tennis player. Most of all, he is remembered as a loyal friend 
and loving husband and father.
  My sympathy is with his children, Bill and Ellen, as well as with his 
four grandchildren as they remember and celebrate the life of an 
exemplary Hoosier statesman. This standard bearer of a great Quaker 
tradition at Earlham College added something very special to Indiana 
Political life. We will miss his wisdom and grace.

                          ____________________