[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Pages 26760-26764]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    IN HONOR OF SENATOR JOHN CHAFEE

  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, as have so many of our colleagues today, 
I rise to speak in memory of and in praise of John Chafee. He was my 
dearest friend for nigh onto a quarter century.
  We came to the Senate together in 1977. As it happens, we were both 
appointed to the same committees. As we all know, the life of a Senator 
very much depends on the committees he or she is appointed to and the 
amount of time that they remain on those committees.
  We were appointed to the Committee on Finance with its enormous range 
of jurisdiction, and to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. 
Only recently at that point had the ``environment'' come up and made 
its way onto the title of what had previously

[[Page 26761]]

been a Public Works Committee. We worked together on both committees 
from the very first. These are exceptional committees. Possibly because 
of the great common interests that are dealt with, they have been 
exceptionally bipartisan committees.
  I point out at this point we have three measures before the Senate: 
The trade legislation which we will go to tomorrow morning, the tax 
extender legislation which we must get to, and the Medicare and 
Medicaid amendments to the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. All three of 
these measures come to the floor with practically unanimous agreement. 
Two cases were unanimous; on another, just a voice vote with two 
dissents.
  John Chafee, ranking Republican, as Senator Roth, the chairman, would 
agree, was part of this consensus development from the first. He was 
instinctively a man of this body, and the national interests always 
came first. I can recall an occasion on the Committee on Environment 
and Public Works when we took a vote and afterwards John said: Hold it, 
hold it, did we just have a vote along party lines? We haven't had one 
of those in 15 years on this committee.
  It happened we had one, and that moment passed.
  He was deeply involved in environmental matters--the world 
environment as well as our own. I tended to emphasize public works, and 
we had a remarkably reinforcing and effective time, or so we like to 
think. Everyone has commented on his work.
  On the Finance Committee--which not everyone understands is, in fact, 
also the health committee of the Senate--we deal with Medicare and 
Medicaid. John did a great many things. The one that was so typical and 
wonderful was to transmute gradually --over a quarter century--the 
Medicaid program from a program of health insurance for persons on 
welfare under title IV(a) of the Social Security Act such that we 
confined the population who could benefit to those persons who were 
dependent on welfare and added another incentive to dependency. He 
slowly moved this program to a health insurance program for low-income 
Americans. It was brilliantly done, not least of all because he never 
said he was instituting it; it just happened at his insistent and 
consistent behest.
  The last great matter we addressed together was the effort to 
postpone, so as not to reject, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. He 
was deeply involved with that. It is perhaps not easily accessible to 
others now that he was of a generation--I suppose I was of that 
generation--who can very arguably be said to owe their lives to the 
atom bomb. He was with marines already in the Solomon Islands. I was in 
the Navy; I would soon be on a landing craft. We were all headed for 
Honshu. The war would go on but then stopped because of that terrible, 
difficult, necessary decision President Truman made.
  It was the most natural thing in the world for someone such as John 
Chafee to spend the rest of his life, in effect, trying to ensure that 
such a terrible act never was repeated. He was deeply attached to 
maintaining the essentials of the antiballistic missile program and 
believed that a rejection of the test ban treaty would then lead to our 
insisting on that. He did not prevail, but he was witnessed, as he was 
all of his life, as a man of valor, a man of courage, and such a decent 
man.
  He was chairman of the Republican Conference. Around 1990, I believe, 
he was challenged, and openly--legitimately, in politics of our type--
as too liberal. It was a very close contest, decided by a single vote. 
Another colleague of his from that side of the aisle, of course, 
thought the honorable thing to do was to tell him in advance that he 
would be voting against Senator Chafee's role as party conference 
chairman and came over to John on the floor and told him this. It was, 
in effect, devastating news. John's reaction was, ``Oh, dear.'' Never a 
word of acrimony. He told me about it smiling the next day. He was 
hurting a bit, but he smiled even then.
  He was so wide in his concerns and his empathy and his sympathy. I 
can only say all of us deal with special interests; we all have special 
interests. But the only one I can identify with him was the Rhode 
Island Jewelry Manufacturers. Never did a trade bill pass through our 
committee without a little essay by him on the subject of the necessity 
to protect this important sector of the American economy; and he did, 
and without difficulty. If he wanted it, we wanted him to have it.
  I close with the lines of W.B. Yeats, a wonderful poem, ``The 
Municipal Gallery Revisited,'' which concludes:

     Think where man's glory most begins and ends.
     And say my glory was I had such friends.

  We, all of us, share in that as we contemplate our loss, a loss which 
is more than made up by the great glory of his friendship. Liz and I 
send our deepest love to Ginny and to his family.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, a life lived richly is the phrase that 
comes to my mind as I think of John Chafee: A life lived richly, not of 
the material things of this world but in the magnificent service he 
provided from the time before he was old enough to vote until his dying 
day; a life lived richly in the love and honor and respect of those who 
knew him best, many of whom are Members of this Senate, but love and 
honor and respect that came from his fellow citizens of Rhode Island 
and from men and women all across the United States of America.
  I knew John Chafee for only 18 years. The word ``only'' and the 
phrase ``18 years'' do not generally go together, but even that 
relatively extended period of 18 years was only a modest fraction of 
the life of service performed by John Chafee. As a U.S. Marine before 
his 21st birthday, and through many battles and two wars, as Governor 
of the State of Rhode Island, as Secretary of the Navy, and for almost 
23 years as a Member of this body, John Chafee dedicated his life and 
his entire career to the people whom he represented in the State of 
Rhode Island and, beyond that, to the grand concept that is the United 
States of America.
  Unlike my eloquent colleague from New York who just spoke, I only 
served on a committee of this body with John Chafee for a relatively 
short 2 years. But I do remember vividly the work of several years in 
his office here in the Capitol in what seemed at the beginning almost a 
forlorn hope to balance the budget of the United States and to put this 
Nation and its economy on the sound footing that has been so evident in 
our economic successes over the course of the last few years.
  As was the case with his work on the Committee on Environment and 
Public Works, that effort was a bipartisan effort, with most of its 
time being spent with the cochairmanship of the Senator from Louisiana, 
Mr. Breaux. It was not at first successful, but it was the immediate 
parent of the success that this body, the entire Congress, and the 
President of the United States had in 1997 with a result that was 
greater than the expectations of any of those who began that lonely 
struggle or who were in on its completion. It might accurately have 
been said that success would not have taken place as dramatically or as 
soon without the dedicated efforts of John Chafee.
  On a lesser but still significant level because, of course, each one 
of us does represent a particular constituency, I can remember vividly 
the way in which John Chafee, a Senator from Rhode Island, would make 
requests of me in connection with each of the year's Interior 
appropriations bills I have managed, softly and diffidently, but with a 
persuasive manner and reasoning and a persistence that lasted until the 
conclusion itself--a conclusion that, if my memory serves me correctly, 
was always favorable to Rhode Island and to the specific requests John 
Chafee made, partly on the merits of the case and partly because of the 
respect and love I held for John Chafee, along with all of my 
colleagues.
  He did love his small State. He cared deeply about its people and 
carried the burden and responsibility of representing them both lightly 
and well. John Chafee, not surprisingly for a former member of the U.S. 
Marines

[[Page 26762]]

with many battles and much conflict under the flag of his country in 
his early life, was not afraid to be alone even in this body and even 
in contentious times when he believed, as he often did, that his 
position was the right one. Equally, he was not afraid to join with 
others to test his ideas against the ideas of others and to reach a 
conclusion that could command the respect and the votes of a majority 
of this body.
  He was a highly successful Member of the Senate, and so we will miss 
him, even though, in a way, some can envy a man who, continuously from 
the age of 18 or 19 until his dying day, was permitted to serve his 
country in so many ways and in so vital a fashion.
  Now we are constrained to bid him farewell. But he goes with our 
admiration, our respect, and our prayers.
  Mr. ABRAHAM. I will speak briefly with respect to the passing of our 
dear colleague, John Chafee. He was a great friend to all Members, 
those who had the chance to work with him closely across the board from 
one side of the Chamber to the other. I think all felt the highest 
degree of respect and admiration for him. Today I want to express to 
his family my deepest condolences and those of my family.
  A lot of great things have already been said about John Chafee's 
remarkable career both in public service and in service of his country, 
his academic achievements, as well as his professional achievements. I 
will have many memories of him. Probably one that will be the most 
vivid in a certain way is something I took note of after reading a book 
about the Korean war which talked about John Chafee. The book made 
reference to his very distinguishable way of walking, the sort of 
commanding stride with which he moved among the troops. After I read 
that, I started noticing the way he walked from one building to another 
of the Senate, and I noticed the same absolutely distinguishable stride 
with which he carried himself; somebody who was in command, somebody 
who moved purposefully forward to meetings, to the floor of the Senate, 
to attain the objectives which he had for his State and his country.
  Certainly, anyone who had the chance to work with him, whether in the 
context of the issues that came before the Finance Committee or the 
Committee on Environment and Public Works, knows he brought to the 
Senate a great sense of dedication, commitment, integrity, and 
principle. We worked together quite a bit last go-round on the highway 
transportation bill. I remember on numerous occasions appearing in his 
office to make the plea for my State of Michigan. While he didn't have 
the ability to provide each and every Member with everything we wanted, 
he certainly put the time in to make sure he did the best for all of us 
in our States. That was his way of addressing all the things that came 
before him.
  It will be hard to move forward without him because we will all miss 
him, and I think as a collective chamber we will miss his leadership.
  As I said to his family and those close to him, I offer both my 
condolences but, at the same time, I express how much admiration I had 
for him and how I hope all Members can draw from our experiences with 
Senator Chafee some insights into how to make sure we conduct ourselves 
as Senators, with integrity and with the willingness and ability to 
work together to achieve great things. He certainly achieved many great 
things in his career, and I hope other Members can come close in our 
careers to achieving what he did.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, when I first came to this body in the 
Congress that convened in January of 1981, I was the 100th Senator. 
There is no question about that. There is a certain degree of humility 
associated with that prized and coveted position.
  As a consequence of the reality that we came in with 16 other 
Republican Senators in what was somewhat of a revolution associated 
with President Reagan, some suggested we came in on his coattails. 
Those of us who prided ourselves on our accomplishment were not ready 
to attribute totally that responsibility to President Reagan, but 
nonetheless we were fortunate to be here.
  In the determination of how this place works, as a freshman Senator, 
one quickly has an opportunity to participate in the selection of 
committees. Being the 100th Senator, you take what is left and what you 
get. I found myself having perhaps made the choice, but clearly with 
the realization that while my first choice was the Finance Committee, 
my realistic choice was the Environment and Public Works Committee. At 
that time, Senator Chafee had taken over the chairmanship of that.
  One of the interesting reflections is not too many of the 
Republicans, in spite of their seniority, knew what chairmanships were 
all about because it had been a long dry spell in the Senate --several 
decades.
  In any event, I had an opportunity to serve with the late Senator 
John Chafee. As a junior member of that committee, I was quickly 
immersed in the technical aspects of such issues as emissions, 
NOX, CO2, clean water, clean air, the role of the 
Environmental Protection Agency, and a host of other eventualities that 
suggested that clearly there was an institutional memory associated 
with many of these issues. I found, much to my relief, that the late 
Senator Chafee was a patient, caring, and intensely dedicated Member of 
this body. I know many Members have discussed his military role, his 
individual and personal sacrifice on behalf of our Nation in serving. 
Having dedicated his life to public service, I think it is a reflection 
of the type of American and unique Senator he was.
  During that time on his committee, I was privileged to participate in 
significant events that were charged to his responsibility. Looking 
back on those instances, they were really opportunities to get to know 
and understand and appreciate the contribution Senator John Chafee made 
to the Senate.
  Later, I had an opportunity to serve with him on the Republican 
health care task force. Even later, finally, after some 14 years in 
this body, I did get my first choice of committees, the Senate Finance 
Committee. John Chafee was on that committee as a senior member. John 
took over an obligation to coordinate the Republican health task force. 
John studied in depth the details of health care. He probably knew them 
better than anyone in this body. He cared very deeply about bettering 
the lives of those he met. I remember the morning meetings when he went 
into great depth on the health care issue and how we could meet our 
obligations to provide reasonable health care for the Nation. It was a 
disputed area of concern relative to a certain amount of partisanship, 
which occasionally raises its head around here. Nevertheless, John was 
above that; he was dedicated and committed to trying to accomplish 
something meaningful in that area. He never gave up, as he didn't on 
many of the issues about which he cared so deeply.
  So as we look at John's desk and the flowers that adorn it, it is 
with fond memories that we think of a fine American and an outstanding 
Senator with whom we were privileged to serve for a number of years--in 
my own case, for some 19 years. I treasure that time with John Chafee. 
I shall miss his contribution to this body. We had certain 
disagreements from time to time on issues, as Senators do in this body, 
but I always respected where he stood. I always knew where he was 
coming from. He was a gentleman whose word was his bond.
  Coincidentally, recently I made a telephone call to a friend who has 
been ill for some time. He was known to many in this body. The 
gentlemen's name is Duffy Wall. He was a friend to many Members of this 
body. Duffy Wall passed away yesterday, as well, at about 4:15 in the 
morning. I talked to his wife Sharon, who was kind enough to phone me 
and advise me that Duffy had passed on. It was kind of memorable that, 
in her reflection, she said, ``You know, Frank, Duffy was a great 
friend of John Chafee's.'' She believed that Duffy wanted to go with 
Senator Chafee. So wherever the two are today, obviously, they have 
affection and great friendship. As Senators, we suffer the loss of our 
dear friend John Chafee.

[[Page 26763]]

I thought it fitting to add that there was another dear friend of ours 
and John Chafee's who also passed away yesterday morning.
  Mr. President, I extend to Mrs. Chafee and her family my sincere 
sympathy. I also extend to Sharon and the Wall family our sympathy for 
the loss of Duffy Wall.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska is recognized.
  Mr. KERREY. Mr. President, I offer my condolences to Ginny and the 
entire Chafee family for the loss of her husband, their father, and our 
friend, John Chafee.
  When a great person leaves us, we know we can't replace him and we 
know have suffered the loss in a very personal way. All of us feel that 
loss with John Chafee. It is not just the loss of a Senator, it is 
someone now who is missing in our lives, and we have to deal with that 
in the way human beings have to deal with losses of this kind. Also, 
when a great man leaves us, when great people leave us, oftentimes they 
will put on the television screen the date of birth and the date of 
passing, and they did that in this case with John Chafee: 1922-1999. He 
was 77 remarkable years, Mr. President.
  I had a conference in Omaha with young people recently on the 
question of how to save money. They were juniors and seniors. I have 
done this for 2 or 3 years in a row. Warren Buffett, a rather wealthy 
man, was our keynote speaker. He talked for a couple of minutes, and 
then he took questions. Two years ago, a young person said to him, 
``Mr. Buffett, I mean no disrespect, but aren't most wealthy people 
jerks?'' Warren answered, ``No, that is not my experience. Wealth just 
allows you to be a little more of what you already were. If you start 
off a jerk and become wealthy, you can be a real big jerk and hire 
lawyers for $1,000 an hour and sue all your friends. On the contrary, 
if you start off a good person and you acquire wealth, you can be a 
really good person.''
  That was John Chafee. John was born into wealth and privilege. At the 
age of 19, after the United States was drawn into World War II after 
being attacked by Japan, he volunteered, but not for any special duty; 
he was an enlisted man in the U.S. Marine Corps. Among other places, he 
had to fight in one of the bloodiest battles in Guadalcanal. Then he 
went back to college, and the Korean conflict broke out, and there was 
no question that had he chosen to, he could have figured out a way not 
to go. But he went in this time as an officer commanding a rifle 
company.
  I have had many occasions where I would say, ``I was so impressed, 
John, by what you did''; and, of course, all of us who knew him would 
know he would blush and change the subject. He did not want praise. He 
didn't want people to think he was anything special. He did this all as 
a consequence of the way he was. He didn't think he deserved any 
special attention at all.
  Again, taking my Warren Buffett experience, in talking to the young 
people, he didn't talk about wealth. He said: You are born with three 
things--intelligence, endurance, and the opportunity to build 
integrity. You have to decide how much intelligence and endurance you 
are going to use. You build integrity every single day with the choices 
you make. Sometimes you make good choices, and sometimes they are bad.
  I would scratch my head if somebody asked me to give them a choice 
John Chafee made that was bad, which produced inferior integrity. And I 
don't just mean the issues. I am impressed by what he did on the 
environment. He believed we needed to leave the world better than we 
found it. He knew we had to think beyond our lifetimes in order to do 
that. I was impressed by his courage on public safety. I never have and 
never would go as far as he did on gun control, but it took guts to do 
that. All of us who watched him do that had to admire that.
  On health, there were always other people--the disabled and people 
who were born with less than he was born with. He didn't just fight 
with them, and he knew it wasn't for political reasons. He cared about 
the lives of other people. So I was impressed with what he did on all 
the issues. But the thing that moved me the most and causes me to say 
that I will miss this man and I will note his absence is that I 
consider what the world is like without him, and I think it is less 
without him. So it was considerably more as a consequence of the choice 
he made to be kind, the choice he made to be considerate, the choice he 
made to respect other people. That is a choice we all have to make. Are 
you going to be kind? You are not born with an attitude of kindness. 
You have to choose it. You have to choose to be considerate and 
respectful.
  Again, I have been here for 10 years. I can't think of a single 
moment even when he was provoked that John Chafee ever said an unkind 
word about anybody. He would disagree. He would argue. I never heard 
him say an unkind word. That was a choice he made. It didn't come as a 
result of him being a man or a human being. It was a choice and a 
decision that he made. It was old school values, in my opinion.
  As a consequence of that, I find myself wondering what life is going 
to be like without John Chafee.
  I hope his wife and family understand what a big impact he made. John 
caused not just improvement in our laws, improvement of our country, 
and improvement of our world but improvement of our values.
  For those of us who fall short of the mark that John Chafee laid down 
with his behavior, there is an ideal of a goal that he set for 
ourselves.
  I hope as we debate and make decisions about how we are going to 
treat one another that we remember the way John Chafee treated us. I 
think if we remember that, it is likely that we will treat not just one 
another better but as a consequence of that treatment this will be a 
better place, and the country will be a better place, and the world 
will be a better place as well.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I rise today to join so many of my 
colleagues in making a few remarks about our colleague, Senator John 
Chafee.
  As we all know, many of us have risen over the last 2 days to speak 
of our memories of Senator Chafee and the friendships we have developed 
with him over the years. Because of my short time in the Senate, my 
experiences with Senator Chafee are more limited, but I have had ample 
time to observe Senator Chafee as the good, kind, and honorable man so 
many of my colleagues have spoken about in the last couple of days.
  I can recall when I first came to the Senate and we were organizing. 
I wondered what my committee assignments would be. John Chafee, knowing 
of the interest of Idaho in natural resource issues, came to me and 
said I ought to try to get on the Environment and Public Works 
Committee which he chaired. I said: I would love to work with you on 
that committee. When the appropriate opportunity to make a selection 
came along, I ultimately did, make that choice and had the chance to 
work with Senator Chafee.
  John Chafee represented what is good about American politics. Senator 
Chafee was a man of the highest principles and utmost integrity. The 
Washington Post referred to him as ``a gentle but stubborn champion.'' 
That is exactly right.
  I was remarking to one of our colleagues as we walked back from the 
Capitol Building after a matter of business earlier today that John was 
always friendly and helpful and was such a kind man, but he was also a 
firm man in championing the principles he advocated. I believe that 
description of him, ``a gentle but stubborn champion,'' is a very apt 
way to describe him.
  John Chafee was deeply committed to the issues he undertook to fight 
for, and, at the same time, he was always a gentleman and a statesman. 
Senator Chafee was instantaneously a likable person. Part of his charm 
was he was entirely unassuming and friendly.
  Perhaps what made his demeanor more unique was he had enjoyed such an 
impressive career. Senator Chafee clearly worked hard to make a 
difference throughout his entire life. His career accomplishments were 
extraordinary, but then he was an extraordinary man. These things have 
already been said, but I want to repeat them.

[[Page 26764]]

  He served in World War II at Guadalcanal and Korea. He was a graduate 
of Yale University and Harvard Law School and served in the Rhode 
Island House of Representatives and as Governor of Rhode Island. In 
1969, he was appointed Secretary of the Navy and served in that post 
for 3\1/2\ years during one of the most critical times in our history.
  Senator Chafee's life's work has been furthering the issues he 
believed would make America a better place. His commitment to the 
issues and his good nature are what I will miss the most.
  I knew if I needed to talk with someone who would have a unique and 
heartfelt perspective on an issue we were debating, all I had to do was 
sit down at his desk, where there are now flowers, and talk to John. He 
would have thought through the issue carefully and whatever his 
position on it, he would have a good, balanced, thoughtful reason for 
it.
  I particularly want to share some of the personal experiences I have 
had with him.
  Being from a different part of the country--I come from the West and 
John comes from the Northeast--it is no secret those of us from 
different parts of the country often approach environmental issues and 
some of the natural resource issues in a different way, and that was 
true about John and me on some of the issues. We found a lot of common 
ground where we worked together, and we found those issues where we 
were different.
  What was always remarkable to me is that he was always willing to 
work with me to try to understand my point of view and to see if the 
issues and concerns of the people I represent in Idaho could be squared 
with the issues and the concerns of the people he represented in Rhode 
Island, and if the interests of the Nation could be brought together in 
a solution that found common ground, that was one of his strengths.
  I note he always engaged the people in our hearings in a friendly 
fashion that made them feel at home and at ease. He took a direct 
interest in legislation and in each committee member's personal 
interest in legislation which was important to them.
  He personally worked closely with me on legislation on which we found 
we could develop common ground. It is because he chose to make his life 
one of service that so many people today stand in honor of him. America 
truly lost one of our great leaders. I believe he stands as a 
tremendous example to all of us of the kind of difference you can make 
if you are willing to put your life into the service of the people of 
this country.
  John Chafee truly did that. On behalf of all of us in America, I say 
thank you.

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