[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S11822]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             RETIREMENT OF SENATOR DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, it is with great sorrow, but also great 
pride, that this Senate retires one of its most eloquent, learned, and 
successful Members--the senior Senator from New York, Daniel Patrick 
Moynihan.
  I have known my distinguished colleague for over two decades, 
admiring his compassion, his dedication, and his acumen on key issues, 
from environmental protection to social, racial, and economic justice 
for all. It has been an honor and education to have worked with him on 
the critical issues of eradicating poverty, elevating human rights, and 
promoting peace around the world. He and I have also worked together 
closer to home, protecting and restoring the precious waters of Lake 
Champlain--a glacially-carved jewel of New England that spans 120 
northern miles between our neighboring states, half claimed on my side, 
half claimed on his.
  Twenty-four years of distinguished service in the United States 
Senate would be a legacy in and of itself for any man. Yet my 
colleague, Senator Moynihan, has done so much more. He served our 
country for a full twenty years in the Naval Reserve, with three years 
of active Navy duty at the end of the second World War. He has been a 
Fulbright Scholar and a professor of government at Harvard University. 
He has the unique distinction of serving in four successive 
Presidential administrations--the only person in American history to 
have ever done so. He represented our country as a distinguished 
Ambassador to India, a representative to the United Nations, and 
President of the U.N. Security Council. He has served on countless 
public and private sector commissions, committees, and panels, 
addressing issues from education to science to finance. Most recently, 
he chaired the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government 
Secrecy--a key commission that examined our nation's secrecy laws and 
led to his authorship of ``Secrecy: The American Experience.'' This 
book joins the seventeen other works of literature that my friend and 
colleague has written or edited.
  What I will miss in many ways are those special times we would have 
when some Members would gather in the Senate dining room and a person 
would bring up a question of history; then we would receive a tutorial 
from Professor Moynihan. I see my good friend, the deputy Democratic 
leader, on the floor, the Senator from Nevada, smiling because he knows 
what those were like. I recall a couple times when we had so many 
Democrats and Republicans crowded into the Democratic part of the 
dining room to hear Senator Moynihan tie together something from the 
time of Franklin Roosevelt through Ronald Reagan, to the current time, 
and show what the connection was, somebody would have to call up to the 
Senate Chamber and explain, keep the rollcall going a bit longer; at 
least a quorum of the Senate has to hear the end of this story before 
we can come to vote.
  My good friend will be missed in the Senate, but I wish him well and 
envy him the time he will now have to spend with his lovely wife of 44 
years, Liz, his three wonderful children, and his precious 
grandchildren. I join the entire Senate and this Nation in wishing 
Senator Moynihan well in his new life and commending him for his 
tireless dedication and service to the people of this country and our 
world.

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