[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 108 (Wednesday, July 28, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S9622]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO THE HONORABLE ALAN KARCHER

 Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise today to celebrate a man 
who was a good friend and an extraordinary political mentor. I will 
miss the opportunity to consult with him on matters important to 
governing. His contribution to me was a valuable one and it is deep in 
my thought and functioning as a U.S. Senator. He was a superb role 
model for public service and I followed his judgement often. I am 
honored to offer this tribute to former New Jersey Assembly Speaker 
Alan Karcher, his indomitable spirit, his unshakeable conviction, his 
widespread talents, his love for politics in the widest sense, and his 
devotion to the people of New Jersey.
  Alan's death on July 27 at too young an age, was not totally 
unexpected--he had been battling cancer for several years--but the 
reality of it shocks all of us who knew him. And there are a lot of us 
who fought in the trenches of New Jersey politics alongside him, as 
well as those who fought in opposition. Alan used his considerable wit, 
intellect and spirit to master New Jersey politics, and all of us 
respected him as the consummate politician. Alan was political in the 
most classical sense of that word, with all of its ties to the Greek 
concepts of the body politic, the people and citizenship, and he was 
political in the most modern sense of the word--sagacious, prudent, 
shrewd, and artful.
  Alan saw elected office as public service and an honored and 
honorable family tradition. Both his father, Joseph Karcher, and a 
great-uncle, John Quaid, also served in the New Jersey Assembly. When 
Alan followed them in 1974, he honed the practice of legislating to a 
fine art, serving as both Assembly Majority Leader and as Speaker 
during his sixteen-year career. He was a master of strategy in the 
service of the principal of the common good. He was articulate, 
passionate, and so often right, that more times than not he was able to 
convince both natural allies and skeptics alike.
  Alan was a fiercely proud Democrat who believed wholeheartedly that 
``government'' and ``the people'' were virtually synonymous concepts. 
He knew how to keep his ``eye on the prize,'' and he understood that 
``the prize'' was responsive, responsible government. Alan did nothing 
by halves and when he believed in something it was with total 
engagement. His interests and his talents spanned an extraordinary 
range. This most political of men was also a sensitive and accomplished 
musician, a cellist and an opera-lover who could sing Italian arias 
perhaps not as well as Pavarotti, but certainly as energetically. He 
was also, of course, a compelling lawyer nationally known for his 
insight into Constitutional issues and a respected author who examined 
controversial matters with perception and conviction.
  He has left a splendid legacy for us and for those he loved most, his 
wife Peggy, children Timothy, Elizabeth and Ellen, and his five 
grandchildren, who have his mark and his stature as enduring memories. 
We will miss him, but not his spirit, for that will continue to guide 
us. We will miss him, but not his idealism, for that will continue to 
inspire us. We will miss him, but not his passion, for that will 
continue to make us strive.

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