[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 34 (Wednesday, February 28, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2352-S2353]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         COMMENDING DICK MUNSON

 Mr. REED. Mr. President, on behalf of the 29 members of the 
Northeast-Midwest Senate Coalition, I commend Richard Munson for his 
distinguished service as the director of the Northeast-Midwest 
Institute. For more than two decades through four Presidential 
administrations, 10 Congresses, and dramatic changes in our Nation's 
political landscape--Mr. Munson's leadership has kept the institute at 
the forefront of policy innovations to benefit our region.
  Formed in the mid-1970s, the institute works with the bipartisan 
Northeast-Midwest Senate and Congressional Coalitions to develop and 
implement policies that promote the economic vitality and environmental 
quality of the region's 18 States. As the institute's lead strategist, 
Mr. Munson has collaborated with the coalitions' leaders and task 
forces to identify the region's pressing concerns, deliver high quality 
research about policies to address them, and provide information that 
made a compelling case for legislation.
  Mr. Munson brought to the institute an unparalleled grasp of the 
internal workings of Congress. In 1993, he authored the Cardinals of 
Capitol Hill, a story about the men and women who control government 
spending which former House Budget Committee Chairman James Jones said 
``should be required reading for those who want to understand our 
government.'' Mr. Munson also provided expertise in energy efficiency 
and utility regulation, demonstrated in his book, ``The Power Makers,'' 
and more recently, ``From Edison to Enron: The Business of Power and 
What It Means for the Future of Electricity.''
  To complement his own skills and knowledge, Mr. Munson enlisted a 
staff of seasoned policy entrepreneurs, affording them the flexibility 
and latitude to launch groundbreaking initiatives from Great Lakes 
restoration to brownfields revitalization to community-based 
agriculture. Much of the institute's success has been rooted in Mr.

[[Page S2353]]

Munson's conviction that economic progress and environmental 
enhancement are inextricably linked.
  His extensive legacy includes the institute's work to help craft the 
Nation's first pollution prevention law instituting the paradigm shift 
to acknowledge that waste generation not only pollutes the environment 
but also exacts economic costs. In 1991 the Institute held the first 
national conference on salvaging the Nation's abandoned and underused 
brownfield sites. The conference spurred a decade of research and 
education that paved the way for passage of the Brownfield 
Revitalization and Environmental Restoration Act in 2002.
  Under Mr. Munson's leadership, the institute also concentrated 
relentlessly on Great Lakes restoration, leading to passage of the 
Great Lakes Legacy Act. He was instrumental in launching the Great 
Lakes Cities Initiative, enabling the region's mayors to share best 
practices and obtain a seat at the policymaking table. And in direct 
response to the critical threat of invasive species to the Great Lakes, 
the Institute created the Great Ships Initiative to engage ports, 
shipping companies, and shippers in combating the problem.
  With the 2002 farm bill, the institute began collaborating with 
states and policy partners to promote entrepreneurial agriculture, 
private lands conservation, and community-based approaches to reducing 
hunger and improving public health. The institute continues advancing 
these principles by facilitating the Farm and Food Policy Project, a 
collaborative effort working toward a more sustainable food and 
agricultural system for the United States.
  In addition to advancing policy initiatives, Mr. Munson has helped 
the coalitions resist pressure from other regions to cut funding for 
programs that are most important to the Northeast and Midwest--and 
oversaw the institute's hallmark reports that reveal the flow of 
Federal funds to States. His leadership in the perennial fight for the 
Low--Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP, helped the 
coalitions sustain funding for the program and add an extra $1 billion 
for LIHEAP in 2006. Working with the coalitions and Senate and House 
manufacturing task forces, the institute helped rescue the 
Manufacturing Extension Partnership from elimination preserving a 
program that boosts manufacturing capacity throughout our region.
  Mr. Munson came to the institute from the Center for Renewable 
Resources and Solar Lobby, where he served as executive director from 
1979 to 1983. With his departure from the institute, I wish him luck on 
his new endeavor as a cofounder of a new company--Recycled Energy 
Development--that seeks to bring to fruition many of the ideas that 
have been his passion for 30 years.

                          ____________________