[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 6, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E115]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO SENATOR ALAN CRANSTON

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 6, 2001

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me in paying 
tribute to former Senator Alan Cranston of California who passed away 
over the holiday break. In a career spanning most of the 20th century, 
both as a private citizen and a Member of Congress, he developed a 
reputation as a tireless advocate of worthy causes from the environment 
to veterans health, and most notably arms control. His passing gives us 
pause to reflect on the legacy of one who fought hard his entire life 
for peace and democratic freedoms.
  Mr. Speaker, Alan Cranston began his crusade for peace early in his 
life as a journalist. Born in Palo Alto, California in 1914, Cranston 
graduated from Stanford University in 1936 and he worked for the 
International News Service where he edited the first unaltered version 
of Mein Kampf, laying bare Hitler's racist beliefs, and inviting a 
lawsuit from the Fuehrer over copyright infringement. In 1939, Cranston 
continued his fight against racism as an advocate for the Common 
Council for America Unity, an organization opposing discrimination 
against the foreign born.
  Cranston's service to his country began during World War II, when he 
enlisted in the United States Army and became a private. Because of his 
verbal skills, he was assigned to lecture to soldiers on war aims. 
After the war, Cranston continued to advocate peace through his career 
in journalism.
  Mr. Speaker, in 1968, he became a United States Senator from 
California. In the U.S. Senate, Alan Cranston's tireless advocacy for 
protecting the California desert and advocating the philosophy of arms 
control and arms reduction earned him the reputation of a 
``workhorse,'' and it is one he rightly deserves. And even after 
leaving the Senate at the age of 82, Alan Cranston continued until the 
time of his death to press for arms reduction by chairing two San 
Francisco-based think tanks--the Gorbachev Foundation USA and the 
Global Security Institute.
  Mr. Speaker, Senator Alan Cranston worked long and hard for peace, 
and at his passing I join his many friends and admirers in paying 
tribute to his distinguished service, and it is my hope that we may 
carry on his work with equal strength and conviction.

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