[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 115 (Thursday, September 12, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S8559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO ALAN KRANOWITZ

 Mr. DODD. Mr. President, today I pay tribute to a great friend 
and outstanding public servant, Alan Kranowitz, who passed away on June 
3, 2002, following a long battle with cancer. Alan's loss continues to 
reverberate throughout the Washington D.C. area, a testament to the 
enormous impact he had and the plethora of lasting friendships he made 
during his 25 years of service as a top advisor to Congressmen and 
Presidents.
  Alan was born and raised in New Britain, CT, and educated at Yale. He 
first came to Washington in 1965 to serve as executive assistant, and 
later as chief of staff to my father, Senator Thomas Dodd. By the time 
Alan left my father's office in 1971, he was one of my father's most 
valued and trusted aides.
  But Alan did not only add knowledge and outstanding political 
instincts to my father's office. Alan's wit, good nature, and personal 
appeal made him beloved beyond measure by everyone who was fortunate 
enough to have known him, or to have worked with him, in my father's 
Senate office, and beyond.
  After 1971, Alan moved easily between top congressional staff 
positions and key policy positions in the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan 
administrations. Starting off as Senate liaison for the U.S. Department 
of Housing and Urban Development under President Nixon, Alan soon 
became the chief lobbyist for the Office of Management and Budget in 
the Nixon and Ford Administrations.
  In the mid-1980s, Alan joined the Reagan White House as a chief 
legislative advisor and liaison, where his encyclopedic knowledge of 
policy and his personal ability to bridge differences between Democrats 
and Republicans made him a key player in shaping the legislative agenda 
of President Reagan's second term.
  Ken Duberstein, President Reagan's Chief of Staff, told The 
Washington Post and The New York Times that Alan was an invaluable part 
of Reagan's legislative team; that the White House ``relied heavily on 
[Alan] in determining what was possible and doable'' because Alan 
always offered ``absolutely unbiased, straightforward advice.''
  Aside from working in the White House, in the 1980s, Alan also served 
as chief of staff to former Representative Tom Loeffler of Texas, and 
as a senior advisor to House Republican leader Bob Michel.
  In 1989, Ronald Reagan appointed Alan as an original council member 
of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
  For the past 12 years, Alan served as a senior vice president of the 
National Association of Wholesalers-Distributors.
  I believe that Alan is best remembered in Washington as someone who 
brought integrity wherever he went, and excelled at whatever he did. In 
a town where one's political and institutional affiliations often 
define their career options, Alan moved easily from the Senate to the 
House, from Congress to the White House, and from Democratic to 
Republican positions.
  That's because it was Alan the man, not Alan the Democrat, or Alan 
the Republican, who lit up a room, who brought charm and grace along 
with him wherever he went, and who touched the hearts of everyone with 
whom he came in contact.
  Alan's was a life cut short, and he will be sorely missed. To Carol, 
his wife of 35 years, and to his sons, Jeremy and David, and everyone 
else in Alan's family, I offer my most heartfelt condolences for your 
loss.
  But I came to the floor of the Senate today not simply to mourn a 
loss, I came to the floor to celebrate a life. The life of Alan 
Kranowitz was truly a life well-lived. He touched so many and every one 
of us he touched is a better person because of it.

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