[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 102 (Wednesday, September 6, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8099-S8100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              SENATOR MOYNIHAN: A PROFILE IN RARE COURAGE

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that ``Moynihan--
a Profile in Rare Courage'' from yesterday's Newsday in praise of the 
courage and commitment of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan be 
incorporated into the Congressional Record.
  Mr. President, while certainly the race for the seat which Senator 
Moynihan has left open has excited New Yorkers and the Nation, it is my 
desire today to simply remind the Nation what a treasure the State of 
New York bestowed on all of us through Senator Moynihan. I am confident 
that I speak for all of my colleagues in the Senate when I say that his 
intellect and leadership will be greatly missed.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                  Moynihan--A Profile in Rare Courage

                           (By Gray Maxwell)

       As the final summer of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan's 
     public career comes to an end, I think back to one languid 
     Friday afternoon three summers ago.
       Not much was happening. The Senate was in recess. So 
     Moynihan--my boss at the time--and I went to see an exhibit 
     of Tyndale Bibles at the Library of Congress. William Tyndale 
     wrote the first English Bible from extant Greek and Hebrew 
     manuscripts. Moynihan was eager to learn more about a man 
     whose impact on the English language, largely unacknowledged, 
     is equal to Shakespeare's.
       One might wonder what Tyndale has to do with the United 
     States Senate. Not much, I suppose. But like Tennyson's 
     Ulysses, Moynihan is a ``gray spirit yearning in desire to 
     follow knowledge like a sinking star.'' He has unbounded 
     curiosity. I'm not one who thinks his intellectualism is some 
     sort of indictment. Those who do are jealous of his 
     capabilities, or just vapid. In a diminished era when far too 
     many senators know far too little, I have been fortunate to 
     work for one who knows so much and yet strives to learn so 
     much more.
       There is little I can add to what others have written or 
     will write about his career. But I would make a few 
     observations. On a parochial note, no other senator shares 
     his remarkable facility for understanding and manipulating 
     formulas--that arcane bit of legislating that drives the 
     allocation of billions of dollars. He has ``delivered'' for 
     New York, but it's not frequently noted because so few 
     understand it.
       More important, every time he speaks or writes, it's worth 
     paying attention. I think back to the summer of 1990, when 
     Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) offered an amendment to a housing 
     bill. Gramm wanted to rob Community Development Block Grant 
     funds from a few ``Rust Belt'' states and spread them across 
     the rest of the country. The amendment looked like a winner: 
     More than 30 states would benefit. Moynihan spoke in 
     opposition. He delivered an extemporaneous speech on the 
     nature of our federal system worthy of inclusion in the 
     seminal work of Hamilton, Madison, and Jay as The Federalist 
     No. 86.
       (His speech was effective. The amendment was defeated. New 
     York's share of CDBG funding was preserved.) What I most want 
     to comment on is Moynihan's courage. Too many of today's 
     tepid, timid legislators are afraid to offer amendments they 
     know will fail.
       They are afraid of offending this constituency or that 
     special interest. They have no heart, no courage. Moynihan 
     always stands on principle, never on expediency. He's not 
     afraid to cast a tough vote, to be in the minority--even a 
     minority of one. His positions on issues from bankruptcy 
     ``reform'' to government secrecy, from welfare repeal to 
     habeas corpus, from the ``line item'' veto to Constitutional 
     amendments du jour, haven't been popular. But I'm confident 
     they are right. It just takes the rest of us a while to catch 
     up with him.
       While Moynihan has been successful as a legislator, I think 
     of him as the patron senator of lost causes (i.e., right but 
     unpopular). Every senator is an advocate for the middle 
     class. That's where the votes are. What I admire and cherish 
     about Moynihan is his long, hard, eloquent fight on behalf of 
     the underclass--the disenfranchised, the demoralized, the 
     destitute, the despised.
       T.S. Eliot wrote to a friend, ``We fight for lost causes 
     because we know that our defeat and dismay may be the preface 
     to our successors' victory, though that victory itself will 
     be temporary; we fight rather to keep something alive than in 
     the expectation that anything will triumph.'' Eliot's wistful 
     statement, to me, captures the essence of Moynihan. He has an 
     unflinching sense of responsibility.
       For the past quarter century, Moynihan has been the 
     Senate's reigning intellectual. But he has been more than 
     that. He has defended precious government institutions under 
     attack by those who have contempt for government.
       And he has been the Senate's--and the nation's--conscience. 
     His fealty as a public servant, ultimately, has been to the 
     truth as

[[Page S8100]]

     best as he can determine it. He seeks it out, and he speaks 
     it, regardless of who will be discomfited.
       He has done so with rigor, and wit, a little bit of 
     mischief now and then, and uncommon decency.
       I have been privileged to work in the United States Senate 
     for 16 years, and for several outstanding members, 
     Republicans and Democrats. I will not see another Moynihan in 
     my career. He is sui generis.
       When Thomas Jefferson followed Benjamin Franklin as envoy 
     to France, he told the Comte de Vergennes, ``I succeed him; 
     no one could replace him.'' Others will succeed Moynihan; no 
     one will replace him. We should pause for a moment, and give 
     thanks that he has devoted his life and considerable talents 
     to public service.

                          ____________________