[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 11 (Monday, February 7, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S996]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN HONOR OF STANLEY KIMMITT

  Mr. REED. Madam President, I rise to commemorate the life and 
accomplishments of Stan Kimmitt, former Secretary of the Senate 
Majority and Secretary of the Senate, retired Army colonel and loving 
husband and father. On December 7, 2004, the Senate and the Washington 
community lost a devoted friend, one whose work honored the institution 
of the Senate and the value of bi-partisanship.
  Throughout his careers in the military, political and corporate 
worlds, Stan Kimmit dedicated his life to public service and democratic 
ideals. He first served our Nation in WW II and Korea, then as Majority 
Leader Mike Mansfield's senior staff member for 11 years and later for 
5 years as Secretary of the Senate and finally as a consultant.
  Stan was born on April 5, 1918 in Lewistown, MT. His father was a 
wheat farmer until drought destroyed the family's crop in the early 
1920s. The family moved to Great Falls, MT, where Stan spent the 
remainder of his childhood. He enrolled at the University of Montana 
where he took an Asian history class taught by a man who would be very 
influential in his life, a man named Mike Mansfield.
  In June of 1941, Stan was drafted out of college and began what would 
become a 24-year Army career. He was sent to Europe where he was a 
combat commander and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He crossed the 
bridge at Remagen and was part of the first U.S. division to occupy 
Berlin. Stan entered the Korean War as a first lieutenant, where he 
served as an artillery officer at Pork Chop Hill. After completing his 
bachelor's degree at Utah State University, he went back to the Army to 
serve in Europe. The Army later assigned him to serve as secretary of 
the Army office of legislative liaison to the Senate, his first of 
three terms in this post. During his assignment to the Senate, he 
renewed his connection to the Senate Majority Leader from Montana, 
Senator Mike Mansfield.
  By the time Stan retired from the Army in 1966 as a colonel, he was 
decorated with the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star 
for Valor with Three Oak Leaf Clusters and was inducted into the Field 
Artillery Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame.
  He approached his career in the Senate in the same manner with which 
he approached his commitment to the Army, with integrity, with 
fairness, and with an enormous deal of respect for the institution. 
Stan was always troubled by the partisanship in Washington because he 
thought of the institution as a family. He honored the principles of 
the party, but always knew that it was part of a bigger picture. He was 
grateful for the opportunity to have served Senator Mansfield but, 
above all, Stan was grateful to have served in the United States 
Senate.
  Even after many years in Washington, true to his roots, Stan always 
considered himself ``a gopher-shooting Montana boy at heart.'' I had 
the privilege of knowing Stan through his sons Robert, Jay and Mark, 
they were contemporaries of mine at West Point.
  They established extraordinary careers in their own capacity. Bob 
Kimmitt was former Ambassador to Germany under President Bush. Jay 
Kimmitt served this institution as a member of the Appropriations 
staff. Mark Kimmitt is today a general officer to the U.S. Army.
  Stan had a large family. He leaves behind his wife Eunice, his 5 
children, his 12 grandchildren, and 1 great-grandchild. I extend my 
deepest condolences to his friends and his family. Stan Kimmitt served 
this Nation with distinction; the Senate shall miss such a devoted 
friend and such a humble servant.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader is recognized.

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