[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 14201-14202]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         IN MEMORY OF AL DAVIS

  Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, today I wanted to honor the memory of a 
member of the congressional family whose life was tragically cut short 
last month. Albert James Davis, who was the Democratic chief economist 
at the House Ways and Means Committee, died on May 30.
  Mr. Davis had served the Congress with distinction since 1984, first 
as a senior economist with the Democratic staff of the House Budget 
Committee, then as chief economist for that committee, and finally as 
chief economist for the Ways and Means Committee.
  Although Mr. Davis never worked in the U.S. Senate, his death is a 
profound personal and professional loss for many Members and staff of 
the Senate. Mr. Davis was a highly respected and much loved member of 
the group of policy experts who work largely behind the scenes to 
provide Members of Congress with information about the policies they 
are considering. Many Senate staff--and many members of my Budget 
Committee staff--had worked with Mr. Davis, either directly in the 
House or through bicameral staff meetings and frequent phone 
conversations. And although few knew it, many Senators benefitted from 
Mr. Davis' knowledge and wisdom because of the frequent use made by 
Senate staff of insightful memos and analyses of important issues that 
Mr. Davis graciously shared with them.
  He was one of the leading experts in the country on issues involving 
taxes and entitlement programs. Just as important as his deep 
understanding of these complex issues was his ability to express his 
thoughts about them in a simple, straightforward way that others--
congressional staff, the press, and Members of Congress--could 
understand. And he could do it in a gracious and humorous way that did 
not betray any impatience with a listener who might be a little slow to 
grasp what was being explained.
  Mr. Davis was a committed Democrat, but he was more committed to 
honest and intelligent analyses of the issues. You could count on him 
to give you the straight scoop about any issue. He would not fudge the 
facts just to fit his personal policy preferences. When my staff gave 
me information from Al Davis, I knew I could rely on it.
  The combination of respect and affection that many members of the 
Senate family had for Al Davis is a testament to his intelligence, his 
ability, and his huge and warm heart. The Senate was considering the 
conference report on the reconciliation tax bill when it became known 
that Mr. Davis was not likely to recover. The sense of sorrow

[[Page 14202]]

and loss felt by Senate staff on the floor that day was immense. For 
many of those staff, it was hard to imagine not being able to pick up 
the phone to ask Al about an issue. They understood the quality of 
reporting on tax and entitlement issues would be diminished because Al 
would not be around to explain a complicated issue in a way that the 
average reader or listener could understand. And they keenly felt the 
loss of a unique and wonderful person. Many people in the Senate family 
were touched by Al--benefitted from his knowledge and wisdom and were 
lucky enough to consider him a friend. He will be greatly missed.

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