[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 94 (Friday, July 9, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1340]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                A NATIONAL MEMORIAL FOR EDMUND S. MUSKIE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL H. MICHAUD

                                of maine

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, July 9, 2004

  Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing two bills to designate the 
Edmund S. Muskie Memorial, located in Rumford, Maine, as a national 
monument. Surely, the incredible accomplishments of this distinguished 
American deserve national recognition.
  Edmund S. Muskie was born March 28, 1914, in Rumford, Maine, the 
second of six children and the son and grandson of Polish immigrants. 
Ed Muskie attended public schools in Rumford, graduated as 
valedictorian of his high school and with cum laude honors from Bates 
College. After Cornell University Law School, he began practicing law 
in Waterville. In 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served as a 
Lieutenant in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters.
  Ed Muskie began his political career in the Maine House of 
Representatives, where he served from 1946-1951. Later he went on to be 
twice elected as Governor of Maine and then to the United States 
Senate, where he served for twenty-one years. During his tenure in the 
Senate, Ed Muskie served on the Foreign Relations, Governmental 
Affairs, and Environmental and Public Works committees, and was the 
founder and first chair of the Senate Committee on the Budget.
  Joining Democratic Presidential nominee Hubert H. Humphrey, Ed Muskie 
ran for Vice President on the Democratic ticket in 1968, and then made 
his own bid for the Presidential nomination in 1972. After retiring 
from the Senate in 1980, he was made Secretary of State by President 
Carter, practiced law in Washington, D.C., and was named to President 
Reagan's Special Review Board to investigate the Iran-Contra affair.
  Few people served this nation as long, or as honorably, as Edmund 
Muskie. His dedication to public service was obvious and his commitment 
to environmental issues ahead of his time.
  I have introduced a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior 
to conduct a special resources study to determine the suitability and 
feasibility of designating the memorial to Edmund S. Muskie located in 
Rumford, Maine, as a unit of the National Park System. I have also 
introduced a bill to then officially designate the memorial as a 
national memorial. I am hopeful that these bills can be considered and 
passed soon so that we can have a fitting, national tribute to Edmund 
Muskie.

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