[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Pages 29140-29141]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                   IN HONOR OF SENATOR JOHN H. CHAFEE

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak in memory and 
tribute to Senator John H. Chafee, who was for me not just a colleague 
and friend, but a mentor on the Environment and Public Works Committee 
for the eleven years I have been in the Senate. Nearly every single 
environmental statute bears the strong stamp of his commitment and 
leadership; Superfund, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water 
Act, barrier beach legislation, transportation laws, the Oil Pollution 
Protection Act. The list goes on and on.

[[Page 29141]]

  When John Chafee first announced that he was not going to run for 
reelection, a lot of us who care about the environment realized what a 
great loss John Chafee's retirement would be. Now his sudden death 
reminds us all too quickly that he was an irreplaceable friend of the 
environment. He was a very sturdy, forthright, faithful leader at a 
time when the number of legislators in his great party who consider 
themselves environmental stewards grew smaller. This trend has been 
contrary to the proud environmental tradition of the Republican party 
that goes back to the days of Teddy Roosevelt and contrary to what I 
find to be the opinion of Republicans in Connecticut who are quite 
enthusiastically supportive of environmental protection. Senator Chafee 
held high the banner of that tradition.
  He always considered himself a centrist and I know that what he meant 
by that was not that he was neutral, but that he was committed to 
bringing different groups and factions within Congress and outside 
together to get things done. One of my first and best experiences as a 
Senator was in 1990 when we were considering the Clean Air Act 
Amendments. Senator George Mitchell, then Majority Leader, pulled a 
group of us together with representatives of the Bush Administration in 
his conference room. John Chafee was there day after day, and night 
after night, throughout long, tedious negotiations. But in the end, he 
helped put the pieces together for us to adopt a bill signed by 
President Bush that has clearly made our nation's air healthier and 
cleaner.
  He was also a leader in the effort to protect against global climate 
change, urging the President to adopt an international framework to 
address the issue as early as 1988, and supporting the efforts to 
achieve the signing and ratification of the United Nations Framework 
Convention on Climate Change. We went to Kyoto, Japan for the critical 
meetings there to forge further agreements to fulfill the objectives of 
the Framework Convention agreement. In that difficult setting John sent 
a message to the countries of the world which were being quite critical 
of the United States' position, that there was bipartisan support in 
Congress for taking action to address global warming. He and I then 
worked together with Senator Mack to sponsor what we thought was a 
modest proposal in this Congress to begin to give companies that reduce 
greenhouse gas emissions the promise of credit if and when we adopt a 
mandatory system for controlling that kind of air pollution. I remember 
laughing with John that we must be on the right path because our 
proposal was opposed by both sides of the debate.
  John Chafee was the quintessential New Englander; he was a 
straightforward, very honest, very civil man. He also was a great 
outdoorsman. I think that some of the work he was proudest of involved 
his efforts to protect natural resources. He played a critical role in 
expanding our National Wildlife Refuge System and worked hard to 
conserve wetlands. He instituted several reforms to tax policy to 
encourage the preservation of open space. He was a great advocate right 
up to his death for full and permanent funding for the Land and Water 
Conservation Fund, which is so important to preserving open spaces in 
our states.
  John Chafee was a good man and a superb chairman. Always respectful 
to those who came before our Committee, he wanted to get things done. 
When it came to the environment, he really did get things done. I'll 
miss him. We'll all miss him. The Lord's good earth will miss him, 
because he was indeed a good friend. My wife Hadassah joins me in 
extending condolences to Ginny Chafee and the entire family. We all do 
truly share in their loss.

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