[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 22 (Monday, February 27, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1503-S1504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO PRESTON ROBERT TISCH

 Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I wish to pay my respects to 
someone I knew very well, Preston Robert Tisch, who passed away last 
month of brain cancer. He was a distinguished American who, along with 
his brother, Laurence, built a giant financial enterprise. Bob was 
eminently successful at everything he did, particularly in his role as 
a husband, father, and grandfather.
  I, like all who had contact with Bob Tisch, treasure my times with 
him. I send my deepest condolences to his wife and family. I ask to 
have printed in the Record a statement released by the New York Giants 
organization that so perfectly describes the life and accomplishments 
of Bob Tisch.
  He will be long remembered for his productive life and his legacy of 
important leadership in all of his endeavors. We are all better off for 
Bob Tisch's contributions to our country.
  The material follows.

                    Preston Robert Tisch (1926-2005)

       Preston Robert ``Bob'' Tisch, the Giants'' Chairman and Co-
     Chief Executive Officer, one of the nation's most respected 
     and successful businessmen, a former United States Postmaster 
     General, and an extremely generous philanthropist, died 
     Tuesday night.
       Tisch passed away trom inoperable brain cancer, which was 
     first diagnosed in the summer of 2004. He was 79. His death 
     comes just three weeks after the passing of his fellow owner, 
     Wellington Mara, who died of cancer on October 25 at the age 
     of 89.
       Tisch realized a longtime dream in 1991 when he completed 
     negotiations with Wellington Mara's nephew, Tim Mara, and his 
     family and paid $75 million for a 50 percent interest in the 
     Giants.
       ``I was very fortunate,'' Tisch said in a 2002 interview. 
     ``I got a call trom (former Cleveland and Baltimore owner) 
     Art Modell telling me that Tim Mara wanted to sell his half 
     of the team and asking me if I would be interested in 
     purchasing it. I met with Wellington Mara and John Mara and 
     said I'd be very interested. There were no problems with 
     them, and then I bought my share of the team from Tim Mara. 
     It's been a great relationship and a great boon to me. I'm 
     very happy to be the 50 percent owner of the New York 
     Giants.''
       Tisch played an active role in the organization. As a 
     member of the National Football League's Finance and Super 
     Bowl Policy Committees, he attained a prominence in the 
     sports arena equal to his position in the world of business.
       Owning the Giants was one of many careers Tisch pursued 
     simultaneously. Forbes magazine ranks him 56th on its list of 
     the country's 400 wealthiest people and estimates his net 
     worth to be about $3.9 billion.
       He was the Chairman and Director of the Loews Corporation, 
     one of the country's most successful financial companies. The 
     company, with a 2004 net income of $1.2 billion and assets 
     exceeding $74 billion, owns and operates 91 percent of CNA 
     Financial Corporation; 100 percent of Lorillard; 100 percent 
     of Boardwalk Pipelines, which consists of Texas Gas 
     Transmission and Gulf South Pipelines; 52 percent of Diamond 
     Offshore Drilling; 100 percent of Loews Hotels and 100 
     percent of Bulova.
       Tisch served as Postmaster General of the United States 
     from August 1986 until returning to New York in March 1988. 
     Prior to his appointment as Postmaster, he served as 
     President and Chief Operating Officer of Loews Corporation 
     and its corporate predecessor, Loews Theaters, Inc., a 
     position held from 1960 until his appointment as Co-Chairman 
     and Co-CEO.
       Tisch also served as Chairman of the New York Convention & 
     Visitors Bureau for 19 years and currently serves as the 
     Bureau's (now called NYC & Co.) Chairman Emeritus. He was 
     also founding Chairman of the New York City Convention and 
     Exhibition Center Corporation and Chairman of the Citizens 
     Committee for the Democratic National Conventions held in New 
     York City in 1976 and 1980.
       In May 1990, Mayor David Dinkins appointed Tisch as New 
     York City's Ambassador to Washington, D.C. Through 1993, he 
     served as a liaison between the City of New York and his 
     friends and colleagues in both the national government in 
     Washington, D.C. and the business community in New York City.
       From 1990-1993, Tisch served as Chairman of the New York 
     City Partnership, Inc. and the New York Chamber of Commerce 
     and Industry, where he was instrumental in developing a 
     campaign to enhance New York's position as an international 
     business center. After completing his stint as chairman, 
     Tisch remained on the Board of Directors of both 
     organizations, now merged.
       Tisch was also a Trustee of New York University.
       The Giants, however, were truly a labor of love for Tisch, 
     a lifelong sports fan. He attended every Giants game, home 
     and away, and spent as much time working in his stadium 
     office as possible. His two sons are now important members of 
     the organization: Steven as executive vice president and Jon 
     as treasurer.
       The process of going from fan to owner took at least three 
     decades for Tisch.
       ``I came to New York in 1960, and a couple of propitious 
     things happened,'' he said. ``Our company owned a radio 
     station at that time, WHN. During the 1950s they broadcast 
     Giants games. The president of the radio station had ten 50-
     yard-line tickets at Yankee Stadium. When we sold the radio 
     station he decided he wanted to stay with us, so he came over 
     to Loews Theaters to become the controller. So for about 
     seven or eight years, I had the use of these tickets.
       ``Also, when we came to New York we moved to Scarsdale, and 
     I got to know Allie Sherman, who was then coach of the 
     Giants. Actually, Allie's son Randy and my son Jon were born 
     one day apart. So we got to know the Sherman family. Then in 
     1975 or '76, Pete Rozelle moved to Harrison. We lived in the 
     city, but we have a house in Harrison, which

[[Page S1504]]

     was a mile away from where Pete Rozelle and his family 
     resided. We became very friendly with Pete Rozelle. So I have 
     a history in the last 40-some odd years of being involved. I 
     went to most of the owners meetings and all the Super Bowls 
     with Pete Rozelle. I was chairman of a group of his friends 
     called Rozelle's Raiders--I was responsible for getting him 
     to the right place at the right time. He finally gave me a 
     whistle and a sign that said `Rozelle's Raiders.' I've been 
     very lucky. In my own mind, I've been involved in football 
     since 1960.''
       It was about that time that Tisch first began to consider 
     buying a professional team.
       ``I had tried several times before (purchasing his interest 
     in the Giants),'' he said. ``Steve Ross, who ended up as CEO 
     of Time-Warner, Inc. and I tried to buy the Jets in about 
     1967 or '68 and it didn't work out. I looked at other things. 
     In 1988, when I came out of the Postal Service, I decided I 
     would try to buy a sports team. I looked at many of them, 
     both in football and basketball. I looked at the Dallas 
     Cowboys and a couple of other teams. But I made up my mind I 
     was never going to buy a team that was more than one hour 
     from New York. I was interested in becoming owner of the new 
     franchise that was in Baltimore. We were putting together a 
     group when the opportunity came about to become the 50 
     percent owner of the New York Giants, which I jumped at and 
     dropped everything else.''
       He completed the negotiations with Tim Mara just a few 
     months after the Giants won Super Bowl XXV.
       Tisch's business success was but a small part of his life's 
     achievements. His generosity and commitment to civic and 
     charitable causes was legendary. Tisch was a tireless and 
     influential participant in civic affairs throughout his adult 
     life.
       In February 2000, he helped found Take the Field, Inc., a 
     non-profit organization dedicated to renovating and 
     rebuilding the athletic fields at New York City's public high 
     schools. Tisch, a product of those schools who graduated from 
     Erasmus Hall High in Brooklyn, was Chairman of Take the 
     Field, Inc. He launched the organization with a $1 million 
     donation, and as of earlier this year had raised more than 
     $147 million in public and private dollars.
       Tisch and two partners in Take the Field, Tony Kiser and 
     Richard Kahan, believed the private sector had to play a 
     leading role in repairing sports fields at schools throughout 
     the city that had been slowly destroyed by more than two 
     decades of neglect. Tisch approached then-mayor Rudy Giuliani 
     with his idea. The city agreed to match every dollar raised 
     by Take the Field with three of its own, and the mission was 
     to re-do every athletic field in the city that was classified 
     as ``needy.''
       ``Take the Field is one of the most innovative and 
     wonderful ideas of my life in the city,'' said New York Mets 
     owner Fred Wilpon, one of Tisch's best friends. ``And it 
     doesn't happen without Bob. At a time in his life when he 
     could have just sat back and enjoyed everything he had 
     accomplished, he went to work.''
       That's what Tisch did throughout his life. He was a 
     founding Co-Chairman of Citymeals-on-Wheels, President of the 
     Board of Directors from 1993 to 2002, and later served on the 
     Board as Honorary Chairman. He also served as chairman of 
     Public Private Initiative, a public private partnership that 
     raises funds for important community programs, from 1997 to 
     1998.
       Tisch's philanthropy continued even after he became gravely 
     ill. His family picked a physician at the Duke University 
     Medical Center to supervise his treatment for the brain 
     cancer. Tisch and his family recently donated $10 million to 
     the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center and the school's Brain 
     Tumor Center.
       The gift accounted for the majority of a $16.3 million 
     package of subsidies that Duke will use to support research 
     into the treatment of brain tumors.
       ``I was very, very impressed by the program at Duke, and 
     very taken by more than just its medical approach,'' said 
     Steve Tisch. ``For me, there was the intangible that became 
     so important, of the spiritual and emotional commitment that 
     these programs and their doctors have.''
       Duke officials have pledged to use $5 million from the 
     Tisch family to underwrite the hiring of additional 
     researchers. The medical center is matching that with $5 
     million of its own money. Another $2.5 million from the Tisch 
     family will finance the screening of drugs that might be 
     useful in treating brain tumors. Duke officials are now 
     calling the treatment center the Preston Robert Tisch Brain 
     Tumor Center.
       Given his many accomplishments and interesting ventures, 
     Tisch was asked in that 2002 interview what was most 
     rewarding to him.
       ``My brother (Laurence, who died of cancer at age 80 two 
     years ago today on November 15, 2003) and I took the Loews 
     Corporation from a corporation that did about $20 million 
     worth of business and built it up to a $13 billion company, 
     which is now run by the next generation,'' Tisch said. 
     ``Building the company and seeing it grow has been extremely 
     gratifying. I also enjoyed my time at the Postal Service when 
     I was appointed Postmaster General. People said, `How can you 
     stand a job like that?' I loved it. I made one mistake--I 
     stayed two years when I should have stayed three years.
       ``Then, of course, my involvement with the New York Giants 
     has been very rewarding. I've been very, very lucky in my 
     life and what I've been able to achieve.''
       Everyone who knew him, worked with him or were touched by 
     his generosity were just as fortunate.
       Preston Robert Tisch was born on April 29, 1926 in New York 
     City. He attended Bucknell University before entering the 
     Army in 1944. After military service in World War II, he 
     earned a B.A. degree in economics from the University of 
     Michigan in 1948. Tisch is survived by his wife, the former 
     Joan Hyman, and their three children, Steven, Laurie, and 
     Jonathan, and nine grandchildren.

                          ____________________