[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 7508]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO SENATOR DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I wish to share a few thoughts on the 
passing of the remarkable Daniel Patrick Moynihan, one of America's 
most brilliant people. He graced this Senate and served this country in 
innumerable ways.
  He, of course, was a great scientist, a person able to study complex 
data and make serious judgments. I remember being in the subway at a 
point not too long before he left the Senate. Some numbers had come out 
that indicated we were doing a little better in marriage, a little less 
number of children were being born out of wedlock. We were standing 
there and somebody said something about that point. With great 
intensity and passion, he said: That's nothing. In the history of the 
world, no nation has ever seen a collapse of marriage like we are 
seeing in this country.
  It just hit me he was giving us a scientific analysis of a very 
serious social problem with which we needed to deal, and he took it 
very seriously.
  Another incident I recall was being in this small dining room. We 
were working late one night and voting. I went in with the majority 
leader, Trent Lott, and was talking to Trent about Colombia, the 
revolutionaries there, the Marxist group, the drug dealing group and 
wanted to do some things better for Colombia. We sat down and Senator 
Moynihan was there. Trent said: Pat, tell me about Colombia; what's 
going on in Colombia.
  We just sat in rapt attention as he described the last 50 years in 
Colombia in detail--how this country had developed a history of 
violence, how they were having revolutionary problems, and how it was 
going to be very difficult to eliminate those problems. I was stunned 
at the encyclopedic knowledge he displayed.
  As we left, Trent said: I love to ask him those questions. He always 
knows those kinds of things. He said: I do it frequently just to see 
what he will share with us.
  I remember asking about serving as Ambassador to India. He told a 
story, a complex story, that gave such great insight into the good 
people of India.
  Pat Moynihan was an extraordinary person. He operated on a higher 
level. He benefited this country in many ways. He served Republican 
Presidents and Democratic Presidents, and he served in this body. He 
helped point out the problems with welfare and helped us move toward 
reform. He served on the commission that courageously gave insight into 
how we may improve Social Security. He, in many ways, on those two 
issues with Nixon going to China had the ability and the credibility to 
move the country in a way that some lesser Senator may not have been 
able to do.
  I wanted to take a moment before we adjourned to express my thoughts 
about Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, one of the most brilliant people 
to ever grace this body.

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