[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 131 (Thursday, September 6, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11206-S11207]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO ED McGAFFIGAN

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, let me speak as in morning business 
about a dear friend who died this last Sunday, and that is Ed 
McGaffigan. Ed has been a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
now for over 10 years. He is the longest serving member of the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission in the history of our country. Prior to that, he 
was a staff member in my office working with me on foreign policy 
issues, on defense policy issues, on science and technology issues. The 
country has lost a great public servant, and we have all lost a great 
friend with the passing of Ed McGaffigan.
  When I first came to the Senate in 1983, I was appointed to the Armed 
Services Committee, and I have remained on that committee for 
essentially 20 years. When I first got here, I needed the help, 
obviously, of someone who knew something about foreign policy and 
defense policy, and I called Professor Joe Nye at the Harvard's Kennedy 
School to ask if he could recommend anyone. His immediate response to 
me was: There is a young man working in the White House Science Office 
named Ed McGaffigan. I would recommend Ed without any reservation. If 
you could persuade Ed to work for you in this capacity, you would be 
extremely well served. As it happened, I was able to persuade Ed to do 
that in 1983.
  He worked with me on defense issues and foreign policy issues and 
science and technology issues for 13\1/2\ years. Then he moved on and 
was appointed by President Clinton to the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission. He was appointed to a term on the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission and then reappointed to a second term by President Clinton 
and reappointed once again by President Bush.
  I will always be grateful to Professor Nye for his immediate and 
superb recognition of Ed. Ed had many virtues. He was a man of great 
faith. He was faithful to his God, of course, his family, his job, and 
his country. He was known for his love of his family, his wife Peggy, 
and his children, Eddie and Meggy. He saw his job as public service. He 
made a decision early in his career to pursue public service. He worked 
in the State Department, he worked in the White House science office, 
he worked in the Senate, and he worked as a member of the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission. In each position, he demonstrated great ability 
and uncompromising integrity.
  Ed made it his business to understand whatever the issue was at hand 
better than anybody else. He had the intellectual capacity and the 
determination to do exactly that. He sought expert advice, but he was 
not one who would accept any advice at face value. He was trained as a 
physicist; he was a physicist. He had an extremely keen mind, and he 
was in the enviable position of being able to be his own expert, having 
his own expert views on many subjects.
  The second advantage I would cite for Ed in his public service was 
his courage. He employed that courage time and again when he stepped up 
to be the teller of truth. One recent column described him as a 
``debunker of hype.'' There was another story that was written about Ed 
this week, where he was referred to as a ``feisty advocate for nuclear 
technology.'' I can see how someone might interpret his statements and 
actions that way, but, in fact, Ed saw himself not as an advocate for a 
particular technology--nuclear or any other--but instead as a person 
who was unafraid to tell the truth even when that went against the 
popular view, even when it meant dispelling widely shared myths.
  Ed had the intellectual ability and the courage to accomplish a 
tremendous amount. There was no question or surprise when he chose to 
use that intellectual ability and courage to face the illness that did 
finally claim his life. He did all of the reading that was doable on 
the subject of that illness. He asked hard questions. He took in the 
answers, and he managed his life for the last 8 years in the best way 
possible.
  As sometimes happens with cancer--which is what ultimately 
prevailed--there are days of remission and there are also days of 
illness. Recently, he enjoyed a reprieve from the pain and discomfort 
that was caused by the disease and the treatment. Bob Simon and Sam 
Fowler of the Energy Committee and myself were fortunate to have lunch 
with Ed in the Senate diningroom in June. It was a typical meeting with 
Ed. He was focused on the future, on how to accomplish the important 
work of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He was a devoted public 
servant to the end of his days. He achieved an enormous amount. Much of 
his ability to achieve in these final months and throughout his career, 
of course, was due to the superb work of his staff at the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission. They deserve great credit, as well, for helping 
him in these final months. Ed must have been one of the few hospice 
patients in the country who continued to work 4 days a week. As far as 
I know, he is the only hospice patient to testify before the Senate in 
July.
  Ed made the most of the reprieve he was granted, but this last week 
his illness came forward and he died on Sunday. He was buried in 
Arlington, VA, today. The Senate is a poorer place for his passing, and 
the country has lost a great public servant. We have all lost a very 
good friend.

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