[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 166 (Friday, December 21, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8354-S8355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING WARREN B. RUDMAN

  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today in remembrance of an 
extraordinary man, an exceptional public servant, and a dear friend, 
Senator Warren B. Rudman. As the U.S. Senate, the people of New 
Hampshire, and the entire Nation mourn his loss, I wish to add my voice 
to the chorus of tributes that continue to reverberate from every 
corner of the country in commemoration of a man whose contributions to 
our Nation and our world are as numerous as they are invaluable. I also 
want to express my heartfelt condolences to his wife Margaret his 
daughters, Laura and Debra, and his entire family at this most 
difficult of times.
  With a Senate that is profoundly dysfunctional and in an era when 
bipartisanship and compromise are both seemingly lost arts, we recall 
with tremendous admiration the intelligence and exemplary judgment of a 
distinguished and iconic legislator whose paramount purpose was to rise 
above and beyond the din of partisanship to effectively serve the 
citizens of New Hampshire and the people of our great Nation.
  The child of immigrants, Warren grew up in his beloved Granite State. 
And from an early age, he was instilled with New England's hallmark 
sense of independence and frugality and its spirit of grit and tenacity 
qualities which he first brought to bear during his heroic service as 
combat platoon leader and company commander in the Korean war, 
rightfully earning him the Bronze Star.
  Returning from the horrors of war, Warren emerged with a renewed 
commitment to duty and service, this time in the public sphere, where 
he applied himself to delivering justice for the people of New 
Hampshire as their attorney general. His colleagues would later recall 
that he was one of the finest public servants to ever grace that office 
and that all who followed aspired to the example he established.
  Mr. President, I stand here today to declare, like so many of my 
colleagues have, that those sentiments ring true for Warren's service 
in the U.S. Senate as well. Indeed, he was an exemplary

[[Page S8355]]

and consummate public servant, thoroughly understanding that the very 
essence of good governance was problemsolving and that as an elected 
official he was entrusted with a responsibility to work across the 
aisle to accomplish the business of the Nation.
  In fact, all one has to do is look to his signature piece of 
legislation, the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act, to witness 
that fact. This bipartisan piece of legislation brought under control 
the Nation's ballooning deficits and directly contributed to the 
economic prosperity and growth that is so fondly associated with the 
1990s. In that light, we can look to Warren with grateful eyes because 
in bringing to bear his credibility, his intellect, and his experience, 
he pursued a course that was not necessarily expedient but that was 
ultimately right. A longtime fiscal visionary, he was a leader whose 
voice we should heed today.
  But that spirit of integrity, decency, and honor was a mainstay of 
Warren's character, and those principles were ingrained into the 
unwavering set of beliefs which remained with him throughout his 
lifetime. They guided him during the Keating 5 investigation, informed 
him during the Iran-Contra deliberations, and inspired him in seeing 
through the Supreme Court nomination of his good friend from New 
Hampshire and exceptional jurist, Supreme Court Justice David Souter. 
Indeed, they were the ever-present and indispensable tenets that both 
firmly grounded him in his Granite State roots while also spurring him 
to the legislative heights that became the capstones of his landmark 
tenure in public service.
  That is why I will forever admire Warren's passionate, unvarnished, 
and classic straightforward approach, which helped build consensus 
throughout his time in the U.S. Senate and which served the country so 
well. While I missed serving with him in the Senate by 1 year, I had 
the privilege of working with him on bicameral basis as a Member of the 
U.S. House of Representative, and during that time and through those 
experiences, my husband Jock and I were fortunate enough to become 
friends with Warren. In fact, he had a tremendous affection for Maine, 
owning a home on beautiful Bailey Island and while we know his heart 
forever belongs to New Hampshire, we are still proud to consider him an 
honorary Mainer.
  Undoubtedly, though, Warren was a man ahead of his time. From 
championing the watershed legislation which reduced our deficit, to 
helping found the bipartisan Concord Coalition, which offers serious 
solutions for our Nation's significant fiscal challenges, Warren's is a 
legacy that Jock and I are proud to carry forward by serving on the 
board of advisors at University of New Hampshire's Warren B. Rudman 
Center for Justice, Leadership, and Public Policy. And as students 
across the country continue to learn about Senator Rudman, we take 
great pride in knowing that history will remember him as a statesman of 
the highest caliber who served America and his beloved New Hampshire 
with unsurpassed distinction.

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