[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 7, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H27-H33]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO THE HONORABLE WAYNE OWENS, FORMER MEMBER OF CONGRESS FROM
UTAH
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, as dean of the Utah delegation, it is my sad
duty to announce to the House the passing of the Honorable Wayne Owens,
a former Member of this body and a good friend to many of us.
Wayne died unexpectedly just before Christmas of a massive heart
attack while walking on the beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, at the
conclusion of a peace-seeking trip to several countries in the Middle
East. He was only 65 years old.
That Wayne Owens would be involved in that kind of activity as his
life ended is no surprise to those of us who knew him. He spent a
significant part of his life trying to bring about accommodation of the
interests and passions plaguing that part of the world.
Wayne Owens served in this House from 1973 to 1975 and again from
1987 to 1993, representing the people of the Second District of Utah.
His political career inspired a generation of young people with his
political idealism. He was a Democrat and he and I differed on many
policy issues, but we never disagreed on the need for the involvement
of the electorate, and especially young people, in the art and science
of making law. In fact, I might say that while we disagreed on almost
every issue, he was never, and I hope I also was never, disagreeable.
In the House, Wayne served on the Committee on the Judiciary, and we
had parallel careers in that he investigated one Republican President
and I, early in my career, investigated another Democratic President.
Later, he served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and it was his
service there that led to his lifelong concern for the people of the
Middle East and to his efforts to mediate their conflicts. He created
the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation to assist in
that effort.
At the funeral service held for Wayne Owens, Gordon B. Hinckley,
president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, said of
him: ``Any man who is engaged in the cause of peace is engaged in the
cause of Christ. By that measure, Wayne was a true Christian.''
The world is poorer for his passing. I join my colleagues in
extending to his wife, Marlene, and his children and grandchildren our
deepest sympathy for his loss, and our profound respect for their
husband, father, and grandfather. We will miss him.
General Leave
Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that Members have 5
days to submit tributes to their former colleague.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Utah?
There was no objection.
Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Hinchey).
Mr. HINCHEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me,
and thank him for providing me an opportunity to express my deep
affection and respect for Wayne Owens and his memory.
I can say that we were very good friends, even though our tenure here
in the House of Representatives did not coincide. He was leaving for
the second time, actually, as I was coming in in 1993; but we were
associated by virtue of the fact that we were interested in similar
issues. Two of those issues most principally were the protection and
preservation of open space in the State of Utah and peace in the Middle
East.
It was because of the initiative of Wayne Owens that I became the
sponsor of a very significant piece of legislation here in the House of
Representatives which would set aside a vast amount of publicly owned
land in the State of Utah to be incorporated within that property owned
by the Federal Government which is declared wilderness; in other words,
affording it the highest level of protection for today and for future
generations.
Future generations is what Wayne Owens often had in mind, whether he
was working on environmental issues or working with young people in his
own State of Utah or elsewhere. He was also, as we all know, dedicated
to the idea of bringing about peace in the Middle East between Israelis
and Palestinians and others in that part of the world.
He first developed this intense interest as a result of his
missionary work
[[Page H28]]
for the Mormon Church. He was, of course, a devout Mormon, and had, as
all Mormons do, performed significant missionary work on behalf of the
Mormon Church. It was in that cause that he first became intimately
acquainted with the details and difficulties of the circumstances that
prevail, and that have prevailed, for some time in the Middle East, and
which led him to establish the Center for Middle East Peace, which
later became the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Development.
As the director of that center, he led many of us in this Congress on
numerous trips to that part of the world, at least for two reasons: to
better acquaint Members of Congress with the circumstances that prevail
in Israel and the surrounding area, and also to enlist us in his work
to bring about a peaceful settlement to the political difficulties that
prevail there.
With Wayne Owens I have had the opportunity to be in Israel on
numerous occasions; also in Beirut, and in Damascus; throughout the
southern Mediterranean: in Tunisia and Morocco, Egypt, Algeria; and
throughout the Saudi Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf States, as well.
Always, Wayne was well received by the political leaders of all of
those countries. They were well acquainted with him, they liked him
personally, they understood the devotion and intensity that he brought
to his work, and they respected him deeply for all of that.
So whenever any of us traveled with Wayne, we were always treated
well by everyone with whom we came into contact, not only because we
were Members of the Congress, but also because we were traveling with
Wayne Owens, who they knew and respected in the way that I have just
described.
I and everyone who knew him were deeply shocked at his loss, by the
suddenness of his death. He was a man of such energy and vitality we
all could not help but think that he would go on for a long, long time
doing the very good work that he has done. It is still hard to believe
that he has been taken from us in the midst of his work; but so it is,
and so we miss him and respect him.
I believe that all of us will continue to show that respect by
continuing our devotion to the cause to which he in fact devoted his
life, and that is, the cause of bringing peace to the Middle East.
I thank Wayne Owens, and I want to also at this moment express my
deep appreciation to his wife and his family, who suffered, I guess is
the best way to put it, his work. They allowed him to carry it on. They
knew he was doing, in effect, the Lord's work. He was doing work that
they appreciated and understood. I want to express my appreciation to
his wife and family for allowing him to do all the good things that he
did.
We miss him very, very deeply, we admire him, and we feel deeply his
loss.
Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I first would like to thank the gentleman
from New York (Mr. Hinchey) for his comments. He and I worked closely
together on issues that he has picked up on, public lands in Utah, from
Mr. Owens; and I want to thank him for his kind words to our colleague.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Wexler).
Mr. WEXLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. It
is with a heavy heart that I rise today to honor an outstanding
visionary leader, former Member of Congress, and dear friend, Wayne
Owens. Today is a sad day in the Middle East and here in our own
country, not only because violence and terror continue unabated, but
also because one of the greatest believers and promoters of peace in
the Middle East has passed. That man was Wayne Owens.
It is with profound respect, admiration, and sadness that I wish to
pay tribute to him today.
{time} 1700
In my tenure as a Member of Congress I have traveled with Wayne to
the Middle East on numerous occasions, witnessing firsthand his
remarkable ability to bridge the gap between international leaders and
promote dialogue, understanding and accord.
Wayne was the quintessential peacemaker because he never wavered in
his steadfast dedication and commitment to the future of the Middle
East. His expertise on this issue was the focus of his professional
life, from his years in the House of Representatives, to his time as
the President and driving force behind the Center for Middle East
peace. Wayne's unique efforts promoted understanding and communication
in a time of great uncertainty and despair in the Middle East. At a
time when hostility, hatred and terror permeated current events, Wayne
would travel to the epicenter of the conflict to encourage diplomacy
and peace.
At a time when no one could envision a resolution to the most
contentious issues in the Middle East, Wayne consistently offered
creative answers and an optimistic spin. At a time when doors began to
close in the region, Wayne dedicated the end of his life to opening the
channels of peace, bringing American ideals to the region, and offering
a glimmer of hope to leaders and people in the Middle East.
Wayne Owens was a truly remarkable man who leaves behind a legacy of
compassion, leadership and hope. Wayne was a beautiful soul, an
extremely kind man who loved his family and cherished life dearly. I
wish to convey my deepest condolences to his wife Marlene and the rest
of Wayne's family and offer my wholehearted sympathy at this most
difficult time. Wayne's contributions to history will be forever
remembered as will his unyielding dream of harmony and peace. Wayne,
you will be missed by those who care for you, and I consider myself one
that thinks of you like a brother, an older brother, a very dear person
and we will all miss you very, very much.
Mr. CANNON. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Florida
(Mr. Wexler) for his kind words.
I will submit for the record a statement by the gentleman from
California (Mr. Berman). If I may take a moment to summarize what the
gentleman from California (Mr. Berman) said. His ideas are important.
The gentleman from California (Mr. Berman) served with Mr. Owens in
the House and pointed out in his comments that Mr. Owens was remarkable
for the broad range of issues with which he dealt.
He goes on to say that Mr. Owens was a very effective legislator, and
after he left Congress that he was deeply involved in the Middle East
peace process. One of the reasons why he was so effective, according to
the gentleman from California (Mr. Berman), is that all sides accepted
him as an honest broker. And finally, he never stopped believing that
peace was possible even in the most difficult times recently in the
Middle East.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall).
Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from
Utah (Mr. Cannon) for all he has done in organizing these words today
on the floor for Wayne Owens.
I just wanted to rise today to say a few words about Wayne Owens and
his service to the United States of America. He was a fine public
servant. Many will talk and some have already about his tireless
efforts for Middle East peace, but Wayne had an extensive legislative
record here in the House of Representatives. He fought tirelessly to
restore endangered species across the West. And the issue that I
specifically would like to talk about today is his bringing justice to
the Colorado plateau uranium miners.
Wayne saw this as a situation with the Colorado uranium miners that
had to have justice be brought to the situation. And what happened is
these uranium miners went into mines on the Colorado plateau, worked in
very dangerous, dirty air mines. There were high radon levels, as the
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon) knows. He has worked on this very
issue. The government knew these levels were very high. Government
doctors did reports and doctors issued studies, but nobody told the
uranium miners that there was really a problem. And so many years they
continued to work in these uranium mines, 10 or 15 years in these dirty
air mines.
As many of us know, when you contract radon in a uranium mine and it
is at high levels what ends up happening is 10 or 15 years down the
line you get lung cancer, and that is in fact what happened on the
Colorado plateau, an epidemic of lung cancer. Lawsuits were brought on
behalf of these uranium
[[Page H29]]
miners but many of them were unsuccessful. My father was one of the
ones, Stewart Udall, that brought many of the lawsuits and represented
the miners. He just told me the other day when we learned of Wayne's
death, he said, if it had not been for Wayne at that particular point
when the miners lost their lawsuits, when the families were
discouraged, when they thought there was going to be no justice, it was
Wayne Owens that picked up the fight. And he went out and held hearings
and he involved Ted Kennedy and Barney Frank and the Committee on the
Judiciary and brought justice to this situation by helping pass a piece
of legislation known as the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. And
many families today in Utah and across the Colorado plateau are now in
much better shape because of Wayne Owens' efforts on that piece of
legislation.
All of us here in the House of Representatives, I believe, miss Wayne
very much and miss his contributions. We want to give our heartfelt
condolences to his wife Marlene and his family, and we want to thank
Wayne for his service, his great service to the country.
Mr. CANNON. As the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) knows, my
first job as a lawyer, Madam Speaker, was with his father working on
these very cases that we are talking about. It was one of the great
experiences of my life, and it is one of many of the areas where
Congressman Owens and I had a great deal in common.
I came to represent many of the people who were effected by the radon
from the uranium mines. In fact, there is a whole town of widows,
Minersville, Utah, which was part of my district until recently. So
this has been a very important part of my life and one of reasons I
appreciate the life and service of Mr. Owens.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran).
Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague
from Utah for yielding to me. I knew Wayne, particularly having had the
opportunity to travel to the Middle East with him, and one thing that
struck anyone who got to know him was how profoundly proud he was of
having served in this institution. He served as an aide to Bobby
Kennedy and to others. He worked in a number of political campaigns.
Politics was his life. But he saw politics as an instrument to do good,
to make lasting and positive change.
His colleagues from Utah have talked about the environmental progress
that he was able to achieve. He did any number of things in bringing
diverse groups together. But I have to believe as his lifelong career
pursuit, at least the latter part of his life, was dedicated to
bringing about peace in the Middle East. He founded the Center for
Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation.
He took a great many risks, not just personally and politically, but
even physically. He had tremendous courage. That courage came from the
personal belief in what he was doing. He put his own safety far below
the importance of what he knew needed to be done in bringing about
peace and reconciliation in one of the world's most conflicted parts.
He found ways to build bridges. He loved people on both sides and found
that commonality and worked on that commonality.
And I want to quote from somebody that not only founded the Center
for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation but was a very close
friend of Wayne's, an intimate friend of Wayne's. They shared
objectives. They loved each other. And that is Danny Abraham. Danny
sent out a letter from the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic
Cooperation. I want to quote from it. He says with regard to Wayne,
``He was respected, loved and cherished by all who knew him. Wayne's
single-minded devotion to continued dialogue and peace between Israelis
and Arabs in the Middle East, even in the most challenging of
circumstances, gave us the hope and courage we could have never found
on our own. Wayne never faltered from his dream that one day Israelis
and Arabs would live in peace and he had the magic, the gift of
nurturing that dream in everyone he met. My beloved friend Wayne was a
true servant of peace and he lived and died serving humanity. May Wayne
Owens' life, his dedication and belief in us not be wasted. Together we
must recommit ourselves to the pursuit of peace.''
That will be Wayne's legacy, to help us recommit ourselves in the
pursuit of the noblest objectives that he committed his life to. Again
I want to thank my friend and colleague from Utah (Mr. Cannon). Let us
memorialize Wayne in the actions that we take to further the vision
that he had for peace, not only in the Middle East but throughout the
world.
Mr. CANNON. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my friend and
colleague, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran), for his kind words
with regard to my dear friend, Mr. Owens.
Madam Speaker, I would like to yield to the gentleman from Florida
(Mr. Davis).
Mr. DAVIS of Florida. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
yielding to me. I had just before Christmas returned to Florida from a
10-day trip to the Middle East with Wayne Owens and the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Price), who will speak shortly, as well as Danny
Abraham with the Center. And I wanted to start by thanking Wayne's
family and the people of Utah for sharing him with us, citizens of the
United States, Members of Congress, the many people who were touched by
Wayne.
Wayne was a wonderful husband, a wonderful father, a wonderful
citizen and he gave so much because the people of Utah saw fit to send
him to Congress to equip him with the knowledge that he used through
the last minute of his life.
Wayne was one of the most selfless people I had met who served in
this body. He had a wonderful sense of humor, a very strong sense of
conviction, and something that I really came to appreciate more in the
most recent trip to the Middle East, just a certain genius about him, a
remarkable level of insight into people, people of all kinds, people
who never could have been in the same room with one another, on
different sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, on different sides
of other issues that separated us from countries like Syria and Saudi
Arabia.
But Wayne truly believed in people and I think did his best to see
the best in everyone he met and to draw that out, and I think that
Wayne played a very important role in the diplomacy of this country in
having some painfully direct and difficult conversations with the heads
of states in some of these Arab nations and having some very frank and
constructive conversations with the officials in the Israeli
government.
Wayne Owens knew an awful lot about the Middle East and really would
have been entitled to have been incredibly very cynical about what is
happening over there right now, even hopeless, as many well-intentioned
wise people are. But Wayne, like a lot of leaders who have made this
country great and the world great, was an incurable optimist, and he
til his dying day never stopped radiating the hope that he had that the
better angels, as Abraham Lincoln would have put it, of all the people
he had come in contact with would ultimately prevail, and that the
United States would in the end play an important role in bringing about
peace and tranquility in the Arab-Israeli dispute.
I always thought to myself that if there ever had been or could be an
election to choose the mayor of the Middle East, my candidate would
have been Wayne Owens. In the last trip that the gentleman from North
Carolina (Mr. Price) and I took, at every major airport we passed
through in the Middle East, Wayne ran into people that knew him,
respected him, who loved him, who had not seen him in 10 years because
Wayne was one of those people that you never forgot.
I have to say that as a United States citizen, I was proud and will
always be proud not just to call Wayne Owens my friend and someone who
has helped develop me, but someone who I think represented the best
things about our country in a part of the world where people are
judging us very carefully, to see what we are made of and whether we
really live up to the things that we say our country stands for because
Wayne represented the very best of this country.
{time} 1715
He has set a standard for diplomacy that we will all have to work
very hard to live up to.
Wayne Owens' untimely death on the shores of Tel Aviv is tragic but
perhaps
[[Page H30]]
the place where Wayne would have chosen, in between the United States,
his beloved home of Utah, and on the shore of a country he loved
dearly.
Wayne's tragic, premature death gives us another reason to do what
Wayne Owens would have asked us to do if he were standing here today,
and that is, to recommit ourselves to peace in the Middle East, to
serve as an honest broker, to stand for the values that have helped
this country get to where it is today, to bring about a Palestinian
state that respects the security of Israel, to help the Palestinians
find a way to govern themselves, bring the terror to an end and give
the Israelis the chance to live the dream they have always had in that
part of the world.
Let us renew ourselves to the cause of peace in the Middle East. It
is another way that we can honor Wayne Owens, and I want to thank the
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon) and the gentleman from Utah (Mr.
Matheson) for all the things they have done in Utah today and will be
doing in the future to honor Wayne Owens, and we are all blessed in
that.
Mr. CANNON. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida, and I
would now yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price).
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
calling this Special Order today and for his and the gentleman from
Utah's (Mr. Matheson) efforts to make certain colleagues have an
opportunity to pay tribute to our dear friend Wayne Owens.
Madam Speaker, Wayne Owens bade the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Davis) and me farewell on December 17th after we had traveled through
the Middle East together for 7 intense days. He planned to take that
same flight the next evening. But the next day Wayne suffered a massive
heart attack, collapsed and died while walking on the beach in Tel
Aviv.
Our shock and consternation upon hearing the news a mere 24 hours
after he had put us on that flight were acute, but these emotions were
widely shared among Wayne's many friends, the Utah constituents he
served during two distinguished stints in the United States House of
Representatives, and the admirers of his path-breaking work since 1989
with the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation.
Wayne's background included 6 years of service for the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, including work as a missionary in
France. In Washington, he served on the staffs of Senators Frank Moss,
Robert Kennedy, and Edward Kennedy. He gave up his House seat for an
unsuccessful Senate race in 1974 and then returned to the House in the
class of 1986, where I and others in that class came to know him as an
accomplished and supportive colleague.
He left for another Senate run in 1992 but in the meantime had found
his true calling in his work in the Middle East. This was hardly a
predictable path in terms of his personal and professional background,
but it was one to which he was drawn by his experience on the House
Foreign Affairs Committee, his friendship with Daniel Abraham, with
whom he organized the Center for Middle East Peace in 1989, and by his
vision of what a small, independent and creative organization might
achieve in this political and policy thicket.
Wayne, Danny Abraham, and the various Middle East hands and political
leaders working with the Center were actively involved in the
discussions leading to the Madrid and Oslo agreements, and they found
numerous ways of encouraging the Israeli-Syrian and Israeli-Palestinian
negotiations of the 1990s. Wayne was haunted by the knowledge of how
close to resolution those efforts had come only to collapse into
distrust and violence. He had few illusions about the obstacles to
getting peace negotiations back on track. Still he persevered, always
looking for the openings, the confluences of interest, the glimmers of
hope that could be acted and built upon. He was one of the most
determined and dedicated persons I have ever known.
Wayne's approach was mirrored in the trip we took in December. We met
with the heads of state in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, demonstrating
again the remarkable access and the relationships of respect that Wayne
and the Center had developed across the political spectrum in Israel,
in the Palestinian community, and in most Arab states. But many of our
visits were more narrowly targeted to learn about and to encourage
promising initiatives that are under way.
For example, we met in Cairo with Chief of Intelligence General Omar
Seuliman regarding the next round of cease-fire talks to be brokered by
Egypt among Hamas, Fatah, and possibly other groups. We then visited
chief Palestinian Authority negotiator Abu Mazen on the day it was
determined that he would personally attend this second round.
We met with Palestinian Authority Finance Minister Salam Fayyad
regarding financial and budget reform, where there has been enough
progress to allow the U.S. to broker the release of a first installment
of Palestinian Authority revenues impounded by Israel.
We talked with Sari Nusseibeh, head of Jerusalem Affairs for the PLO,
about the back-channel, unofficial peace initiatives undertaken by him
and others.
Wayne specialized in discussions of these sorts, which bore witness
to his remarkable understanding of the politics of the region and of
the many facets of peacemaking, his conviction that fact-finding for
himself or others required diverse sources, and his realization that
the encouragement offered, the feedback given, the information
exchanged, in such off-the-record sessions could be significant.
As a middle-ranking member of this House, I have found such repeated
visits, and my work with Wayne and the center generally, invaluable as
a source of information and insight and as an avenue for engagement.
Wayne was passionately committed to the security and integrity of
Israel and to justice and self-determination for the Palestinians. He
understood well the relation between those two and the unlikelihood of
forward movement without persistent American engagement.
The achievement of a comprehensive peace among Israel and its
neighbors is a compelling cause in its own right, but it is one given
additional urgency by the need for regional cooperation and support in
combating terrorism and in disarming Iraq.
With Wayne Owens' passing, we have lost one of our country's most
determined and resourceful contributors to this cause. It is critically
important for those of us who understand the value of his work to find
ways to carry it forward.
Mr. CANNON. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina
for his kind comments and now yield to the gentlewoman from California
(Mrs. Capps).
Mrs. CAPPS. Madam Speaker, let me first thank the gentleman from Utah
and all of his colleagues from Utah for bringing this resolution to the
floor, for their wonderful and warm words about Wayne Owens; and I wish
to extend my condolences to his family, his wife, Marlene, his five
children and 14 grandchildren.
Unlike many in this Chamber, I was only privileged to know Wayne
Owens a very short time; but in the weeks since he has died, I have
learned a great deal about this man and his career, how he campaigned
in 1972 by walking his entire district, about his courageous vote in
the Judiciary Committee to impeach President Nixon, about his
commitment to environmental protection which was way ahead of its time,
and such a tribute to the land he represented in Congress.
I came to know Wayne Owens because of his work on another important
issue, the cause of Middle East peace. As a Member of Congress and as a
founder of the Center for Middle East Peace, Wayne Owens never lost
sight of his dream, that one day Israelis and Arabs would put down
their weapons and take up the mantle of peace.
Because of Wayne's decency and fair-mindedness, he was a rare Middle
East expert with credibility in the American Jewish and the American
Arab communities. He was respected by Israelis and Palestinians alike.
Wayne Owens was the right messenger with the right message, that it
is in the United States' interests to vigorously pursue peace with
Israelis and Palestinians; that the cycle of unspeakable violence,
illustrated so horribly just 2 days ago in Tel Aviv, will only be
broken through a negotiated
[[Page H31]]
settlement; that Israelis deserve to live in security, and Palestinians
in dignity, side by side in two sovereign states.
How touching it was that Wayne Owens passed away while accompanying
these two of our colleagues who have just spoken on one of his
countless missions to the region, that he passed away on the soil of
the land he loved so much.
In my last conversation with Wayne, we agreed that I would travel
with him to the Middle East early this year, and although we will not
take that trip together, I hope to honor, in my own way, the memory of
this great man and his legacy by continuing on this path. That path
will bring us to the day when we can take up and we will wake up to the
dawn of Middle East peace.
I thank my colleagues again for remembering their cherished
colleagues in this fitting tribute. He did the State of Utah proud. His
legacy gives pride to our Nation, and his message of negotiated
settlement for peace gives hope to our world.
Mr. CANNON. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her kind
words. It dawned on me during her discussion that Congressman Owens has
been away from this body for 8 years; and yet many, many people have
taken time at an awkward hour, on an important day, to express their
appreciation for him and his work, and I hope that this is the kind of
thing that his family will appreciate and understand and understand the
depth of the value he brought to this institution.
Madam Speaker, I would yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms.
Kaptur).
Ms. KAPTUR. Madam speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Utah
(Mr. Cannon) very much for his leadership in assembling this tribute
this evening on behalf of our beloved colleague Wayne Owens who passed,
as others have said, in Tel Aviv, as a witness for peace, and I would
like to encourage my friend, the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon), to
consider perhaps in Congressman Owens' memory that we, on a bipartisan
basis, might create, as the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps)
has very wisely suggested, a Middle Eastern study group oriented toward
peace in that region and to do so on a bipartisan basis, naming it
after Congressman Owens who showed us the way in that troubled and war-
torn region of the world.
He was walking the path to peace and peace requires heroes and it
requires heroics; and Wayne Owens, for our Nation, is such a hero. My
heart goes out to his wife, Marlene, his five children, two sisters, a
brother, 14 grandchildren who truly have a hero to admire.
At age 65 he did not have to go on that painstaking journey, 7 days
of intensive work, trying to find those keyholes to peace, and yet he
did that. He could have been living a comfortable life in some condo on
some ski slope enjoying himself, but his whole life showed that Wayne
Owens was not afraid of hard work.
In 1989, he cofounded the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic
Cooperation here in our Nation's capital and established working
relationships with leaders from Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Saudi
Arabia and was making a difference for all of us as the world and our
own country is perched on the verge of war in that region. He was
trying to show us a different path.
He was not afraid of hard work in his own life. I mean, from the time
he washed dishes to work his way through school, to walking across his
own State in the entire second congressional district and winning
election here, this was a man who endured and who rose above common
effort to heroic level to try to help the world, to remove from the
television every evening those terrible images of death in the Middle
East that infect every child in every nation on Earth, certainly our
own.
To his family, may I please extend the deepest sympathy of the people
of our community. I had the great honor of being able to work with
Wayne in our efforts here to find a peaceful road in the Middle East. I
am forever indebted to him, to the organization that he founded and to
the friendships that he made on both sides of the aisle that helped us
find a better way forward.
As mission president for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints in Montreal, Canada, for 3 years, Wayne Owens took his own peace
quest to a much higher level and took it to ground zero in the battle
for peace in the Middle East.
{time} 1730
Madam Speaker, I will place in the Record an article that was in Roll
Call this week in his honor and also thank the gentleman from Utah very
much for yielding to me this evening.
Former Representative Owens Dies
(By Bree Hocking)
Wayne Owens, a relentless advocate for Arab-Israeli peace
and former Democratic Representative from Utah, died Dec. 18
while walking on a beach in Tel Aviv.
Owens, who was 65, succumbed to a massive heart attack
while traveling with a Congressional delegation to the
region.
The four-term Congressman served in the House from 1973 to
1975 and from 1987 to 1993, representing the Salt Lake city
area.
During his Congressional career, he made two unsuccessful
bids for the Senate. In 1974, he lost to Republican Jake Garn
and in 1992 he was defeated by Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah). He
also ran unsuccessfully for governor of the Beehive State in
1984.
A devout Mormon, Owens served as president of the Montreal
mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
in the mid- to late 1970s.
Despite his liberal credentials--he was the Western states
coordinator for the presidential bids of both Robert Kennedy
and now-Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), and also was a staffer
to the later Kennedy--Owens was admired by Members from both
sides of the aisle for his tireless work for peace in the
Middle East. In 1989, he co-founded the Center for Middle
East Peace and Economic cooperation and served as its
president.
Owens attended the University of Utah, latter earning a law
degree from that institution.
He is survived by his wife, Marlene, five children, two
sisters, a brother and 14 grandchildren.
Mr. CANNON. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Ohio. If I
might make a couple of comments on things she said.
I was thinking during this discussion that Mr. Owens spent a tenth of
his life as a Mormon missionary. That is a remarkable commitment. Three
years as a missionary and another 3 years as a mission president for
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
In addition, the gentlewoman mentioned he could have easily spent his
time on a ski slope. And in fact, in Utah, with all due respect to some
of the other States who pretend, we actually have the best skiing in
the world. So he could easily have taken advantage of that.
In fact, I was talking to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey) a
few moments ago, who will speak in a couple of minutes, in fact I think
he is next, and he mentioned how healthy Wayne was. The fact is he was
a healthy, robust, happy, thoughtful person who could have spent his
life skiing or doing other things that he would have enjoyed and I know
he did enjoy. But rather than do that, he chose to do things that were
difficult, that were very difficult, and, frankly, very important.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey).
Mr. OBEY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. I
was horrified to learn of Wayne Owens' death last week when I was at C-
SPAN, just about to go on their morning program, and saw the news come
across the bottom of the screen that Wayne had died the day before.
Wayne and I were neighbors when I was first elected to Congress. He
and his wife lived right next door to my wife and I in Arlington in
rented homes. He was then chief staff assistant to Senator Kennedy. I
got to know Wayne first as a friend and then I got to know him as an
even stronger friend when he became a colleague of so many of us in the
House. And after he left this House, as has been mentioned, he devoted
a good deal of his time to the cause of peace, especially in the Middle
East.
He was a strongly religious man. He prided himself on being a
Christian and he took the responsibilities that come with that very
seriously. One of those responsibilities, in his view, was the
obligation that all of us have as the more comfortable members of the
human race on this planet to reach out to try to help those who are not
in such comfortable circumstances. He would have been appalled to see
the lack of a sense of shared sacrifice that so often permeates what
political leaders do these days.
But he never forgot his obligations to himself, to his maker, and to
his fellow man to take into account always the needs of others. He was
one of the least
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selfish human beings I have ever known, and he believed passionately
that in the Middle East, the center of so many of the world's
religions, that there ought to be a way to bring the parties closer to
each other to avoid the violence and bloodshed that has plagued that
region of the world for so long.
He is a tremendous loss not just to his family, but to all of us who
took daily inspiration from his lack of cynicism and his profound human
decency.
I thank the gentleman very much for holding this special order, and I
appreciate also the comments of my colleagues in tribute to this
wonderful man.
Mr. CANNON. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin. I
did not think about it until he spoke, but it occurs to me that he did
not spend a tenth of his life doing missionary work, but when we
consider the religious zeal he brought to the Middle East, it was
probably more like two-tenths or a third of his life in these difficult
and selfless aspirations.
Madam Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Matheson).
Mr. MATHESON. Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon).
I first met Wayne Owens when I was 12 years old. He was running for
Congress in 1972 in the State of Utah and he took the State by storm.
He walked over 700 miles during that campaign. And the walking was not
just a gimmick. The walking was an indication of the fact that Wayne
Owens genuinely, genuinely wanted to get to know the people of whom he
was asking for a vote and the people who he was going to represent.
I think throughout his life, with all of the great goals that Wayne
tried to achieve and the big picture and the big items he pursued, he
never lost that notion of relating to the individual person, to the
common man. That is something we here in this House should remember as
we look back on Wayne's life.
I had the opportunity to be a campaign manager for Wayne Owens during
one of his elections. It was an exceptional opportunity, a challenging
opportunity, because Wayne, again, always liked to dream big and he
would ask a lot of the people who worked for him. He pushed people
beyond what they thought they could do. And as someone who was rather
young at the time, I got to be a campaign manager, and that was
something that was a significant development in my own life. So I
considered Wayne a friend, a mentor, I considered him my Congressman,
and I am pleased to occupy the Second Congressional District office
that Wayne once represented so well.
When Wayne came to Congress the first time he happened to be on the
Committee on the Judiciary, and he was involved in the impeachment
process with then President Nixon. That was an exceptional period in
Wayne's life. It was a time when he had invested so much time and
effort in terms of examining that issue because he understood the
gravity of the situation. This was not a partisan effort. And I
remember talking to Wayne about the stories of when he actually voted
out those articles of impeachment, about he and his colleagues walking
out of the room with tears coming down their faces because they
recognized what a difficult circumstance that was for this country.
I think that was one instance where Congress behaved in a
professional way, and it showed the strength of this country that we
were able to move on from that circumstance, and Wayne Owens was an
important player in that process.
It was mentioned earlier about how he advocated for victims of
radiation exposure. When Wayne was not in Congress, when he was an
attorney, he represented victims of radiation exposure, the widows of
the miners that worked in the uranium mines, the people who were told
this was safe when it was not. And that work in private life is another
example of a guy who acted in the context of service, and when he got
to Congress he continued with that and pushed ahead with the Radiation
Exposure Compensation Act.
This was a critical issue that forced the Federal Government to
acknowledge it had lied to people and exposed people to dangerous
radiation through open air testing of nuclear weapons in southern
Nevada and also through the uranium mining activities; an important
issue for people throughout the Colorado plateau.
As I have gone through these comments, what strikes me is the fact
that Wayne Owens was a guy who always had big goals and big objectives,
whether it was trying to address a wrong that the Federal Government
had committed and force them to admit culpability, whether it was other
issues we have heard about today, like pursuing peace in the Middle
East, whether it was pursuing a tremendous change in public lands
policy in Utah, with Wayne's vision of a wilderness designation in that
State. And there were other big goals and lofty dreams that Wayne Owens
pursued, some of which are successful today, and some of which the work
is going to go on past Wayne's activity in regard to those issues.
Significant issues.
I could go on and on. The Central Utah Water Project, a project that
had been involved with Federal funding for many, many years but it was
going in the wrong direction. Wayne was part of a group that pulled
people together from the sportsmen community, from the conservation
community, from the agriculture community, and they completed the
Central Utah Water Project as a Member of Congress in 1991, a
significant issue that moved the State of Utah forward.
That is the Wayne Owens I am going to remember, a guy who would dream
big and would relentlessly and tirelessly pursue issues. But what I
will also remember is what I pointed out at the start of these
comments. This was someone who was incredibly genuine and would listen
to people and took the public trust very seriously. It is the type of
approach to the job that I think we can all learn from, and I think we
can do no better activity to honor Wayne than to follow in that way in
terms of how we approach this job.
Mr. CANNON. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Utah (Mr.
Matheson) for his kind words and for his help in organizing this event
for Congressman Owens, who preceded him sometime ago in his Second
District of Utah.
The last time I spent some time with Wayne Owens was the evening of
one of the sniper attacks in northern Virginia here and the freeways
were shut down. Wayne and I flew in together and shared a taxicab into
town and I had the pleasure of spending 2 hours with him.
The nice thing is the government only paid the normal fee because we
split the taxicab fee, but it was one of the more pleasant periods of
time I have spent. We talked about many issues and talked about many
things. We talked about the issues we had worked together on and the
issues we disagreed on. It was a fine experience from my perspective.
The gentleman from Utah (Mr. Matheson) mentioned that Wayne Owens was
a person who caused you to work. I worked for Wayne Owens when he was a
professor of law and I took a class from him. I worked against him in
some of his campaigns. I was wondering about the 12-year-old and
whether I was actually engaged or not. I think, in fact, I am a little
older than the gentleman from the Second District, and will have to do
the math later to see who had known Mr. Owens longer. He was a dear
friend for as long as I can remember.
We did work against each other on campaigns. We both suffered through
a remarkable experience of investigating a President, and he and I
developed a deep bond of shared experience there. We both worked
together on the downwinders issue. That was my first job in law school,
was working on that issue with the father of the gentleman from New
Mexico (Mr. Udall), Stewart Udall. And it was wonderful that Wayne
picked that up and made that work.
We both shared a deep, deep love for the beautiful public lands of
Utah. He traveled those lands, I traveled those lands, yet we had very
distinct differences on how those should be managed. We shared a
kinship, however, based upon one of the things that became a hallmark
of his life, and that was, from my perspective, wonderful. He was a
friend.
I am richer from my experience in knowing Wayne Owens, and we as an
institution and as a country are poorer
[[Page H33]]
for his passing. I would like Marlene and the children and
grandchildren to know how much we cared for him. I hope that this hour
that we have spent talking about him will help them understand the
deep, deep effect he had on our lives and on the course of American
history, on the course of how we deal with our public lands and how we
deal with individuals.
Mr. BERMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the life and work
of Wayne Owens and to send my regards and sympathy to his wife, Marlene
and his children and grandchildren.
I had the privilege of serving with Wayne in the House, and I quickly
developed a great admiration for his hard work, integrity and
dedication to good public policy. We served together on the House
Foreign Affairs Committee, where he focused his attention on the Middle
East.
Wayne was active on a broad range of issues, and while he spent much
of his career focused on weighty matters of international affairs, he
never lost sight of the issues that mattered most to people in his home
state of Utah.
Wayne was a very effective legislator, and he earned the great
respect of Members on both sides of the aisle for his willingness to
put politics aside and tackle the important issues of the day.
After Wayne left Congress I continued to have the pleasure of working
with him on the Middle East peace process.
As President of the non-profit Center for Middle East Peace, Wayne
worked tirelessly to promote continued dialogue between Arabs and
Israelis in the Middle East. His goal was to help build economic
interaction between Israel and her Arab and Palestinian neighbors and
through that work, to support and promote the peace process. He spent
much of the last decade meeting with leaders in the region trying to
foster peace through economic development.
He was very effective in this role because all sides accepted him as
an honest broker.
Even over the last couple of years, when many others gave up hope
that Israelis and Palestinians would ever be able to resolve their
differences, Wayne continued his work to find common ground.
He was often frustrated--as we all are from time to time--and he
understood the realities on the ground, but he never stopped believing
that peace was possible.
We will sorely miss Wayne, and his dedication and creativity. As we
work toward a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in the Middle
East, may we remember Wayne's life and works and let every action we
perform be a tribute to his memory.
Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight to remember the life and work
of former Congressman Wayne Owens. I did not know Wayne when he was a
member of this body: I met him two years ago when he came to my office
asking me to support the Middle East peace process.
Wayne's tireless commitment to Middle East peace, his willingness to
reach across party lines, to go anywhere, and to talk to anyone, has
been a source of inspiration to all who believe that Arabs and Israelis
will one day live together in peace and security. He was a study in
moderation and tolerance, a compassionate man who believed that all
people deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. Wayne was also a
true patriot. He loved his country and he believed that our values of
freedom, prosperity, and tolerance should be shared with the entire
world, particularly the Middle East.
But what makes this moment most painful for me is that Wayne Owens
was my friend. He was a true champion of peace, and he lived and died
serving humanity. He will be missed dearly.
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