[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15821-15822]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING WARREN B. RUDMAN

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I am pleased to come to the floor today, 
along with my colleague from New Hampshire, Senator Ayotte, to honor 
the life and service of a distinguished former Member of this Senate 
and a proud son of New Hampshire, Warren B. Rudman.
  Senator Rudman was widely and deservedly hailed in both life and now 
in his death as a public servant who reached across party lines to get 
the job done for his country and his State. Warren Rudman didn't do 
this out of weakness, he acted so because of the strength and courage 
that marked his entire life. An Army combat veteran of the Korean 
conflict, Warren Rudman earned a Bronze Star Medal. He was an amateur 
boxer. As the attorney general for the State of New Hampshire, he was a 
ferocious prosecutor. His memoir was aptly entitled ``Combat.''
  As a Senator, Warren Rudman relished taking on big battles. In the 
1980s, he joined with Senators Fritz Hollings and Phil Gramm to tackle 
deficits. If the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act had been followed by 
subsequent Congresses, we would not be struggling today to reduce 
massive deficits.
  He didn't shrink from holding a President of his own party 
accountable either, when he served on the congressional panel 
investigating the Iran Contra affair. Nor was he reluctant to hold his 
fellow Senators accountable when he chaired the Senate Ethics 
Committee.
  Warren Rudman's public service did not end after he left the Senate. 
Most notably, he cochaired with another former Senator, Gary Hart, a 
national security commission that correctly predicted a terrorist 
attack within America's borders.
  Warren Rudman was always blunt and outspoken. During the Iran Contra 
hearings he said to Oliver North:

       The American people have the constitutional right to be 
     wrong. And what Ronald Reagan thinks or Oliver North thinks 
     or what I think or what anybody else thinks matters not a 
     whit.

  He said he left the Senate because Congress was ``stuck in the mud of 
strident partisanship, excessive ideology, never-ending campaigns.'' 
That was how he saw Congress 20 years ago. Obviously, he was very aware 
of what was happening in this body.
  But it was his more quiet work that Warren Rudman was most proud of. 
His greatest achievement, he said, was his behind-the-scenes efforts to 
get David Souter, another son of New Hampshire, nominated to serve on 
the Supreme Court.
  Sometimes forgotten is Senator Rudman's authorship and successful 
push to enact the Small Business Innovation Research Program, which to 
this day still enables small businesses to compete for Federal research 
and development awards.
  Warren B. Rudman lived a long and full life. His service graced the 
Senate, and to the end he had New Hampshire granite in his veins.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
  Ms. AYOTTE. Mr. President, I join my colleague from New Hampshire, 
Senator Shaheen, in paying tribute to and honoring the life and legacy 
of Warren Rudman. Warren Rudman was a Senator from New Hampshire whose 
intellect, courage, and conviction brought great honor to this 
institution.
  Warren Rudman embodied the very best of New Hampshire: frugal, 
fiercely independent, and totally committed to the common good. He 
didn't aspire to be a politician, but when he saw his country was 
headed in the wrong direction, he stepped up to serve, and his focus 
was always doing the right thing for our country and the people of New 
Hampshire.
  It wasn't the first time Warren Rudman had been called to duty. He 
had already distinguished himself in the U.S. Army, serving as a combat 
platoon leader and company commander during the Korean War. It was 
there that he saw the horrors of war and became convinced of the need 
for American military supremacy and strength. For his brave service he 
was presented the Bronze Star.
  Following his return home, Warren Rudman settled in Nashua, his 
hometown--also my hometown--where he raised his family. After 
completing law school, Warren entered private practice, where he 
remained until he was called to serve once again--only this time he was 
recruited to bring his energy and ideas to New Hampshire State 
government. Warren quickly proved himself as Governor Peterson's chief 
of staff. Then, at age 39, he was appointed to serve as New Hampshire's 
attorney general.
  I am very proud to have also served as New Hampshire's attorney 
general. In my view, Warren Rudman is probably the greatest attorney 
general to serve in New Hampshire's history. He modernized the office 
of the attorney general to meet the needs of a changing State. He was a 
tough-on-crime attorney general who personally tried criminal cases.

[[Page 15822]]

  Warren Rudman earned a reputation for standing firm on principle even 
when it wasn't popular. It was perfect practice for the battles he 
would later fight in Washington on behalf of the people of this 
country.
  Warren ran for the Senate in 1980 because the issues he cared about 
were being neglected. He believed in a strong national defense and he 
saw the Nation's fiscal situation careening dangerously off course. He 
was worried about the threat that presented to our country's future.
  As a first-term Senator, Warren Rudman truly made his mark, and that 
is certainly not easy to do. But it showed his character, his 
leadership, and his persistence because Warren Rudman's name will 
forever be linked with his landmark effort to rein in Federal spending. 
The Gramm-Rudman legislation was born of the bold idea the Federal 
Government shouldn't spend beyond its means. When it was signed into 
law, annual deficits were $200 billion. Imagine how much better off we 
would be if we had heeded Warren Rudman's warnings and truly followed 
through on the work he did in this body.
  Warren's zeal for responsible government went beyond reducing 
spending. As a former prosecutor, he was seen by his colleagues as 
someone who was committed to fairness, truth, and independence. When 
the Iran Contra scandal erupted in 1986, the Senate moved to 
investigate and Warren Rudman was selected to serve as the committee's 
top Republican. At the outset, he made one thing clear, and that always 
guided Warren Rudman in everything he did. This is what he said:
  ``I consider myself an American first and a Republican second.''
  That was a commitment he kept, helping to lead a nonpartisan inquiry 
that pursued the facts. He saw himself as asking tough questions on 
behalf of the American people and he expected answers. With the Nation 
in turmoil, Warren Rudman stood firm for the rule of law. His rigorous 
commitment to uncovering the truth brought credit to this body and 
great pride to the people of New Hampshire.
  Of course, representing their interests was always Warren Rudman's 
true passion. Warren Rudman had New Hampshire in his blood and he 
brought New Hampshire common sense to Capitol Hill. While Warren was at 
the center of some of the most consequential debates in Washington, he 
always put his constituents first. In fact, legislation he authored to 
help small businesses continues to benefit entrepreneurs to this day in 
the Granite State.
  Shortly after arriving in the Senate, the first bill he introduced on 
behalf of the State of New Hampshire and our country was a bill called 
the Small Business Innovation Research Act, which was aimed at 
bolstering small high-tech companies in New Hampshire and across the 
Nation. To this day, the SBIR Program continues to help small defense 
and technology companies through competitive grants, and it has been a 
very important program. That was the idea of Warren Rudman the day he 
came to the Senate, which is so impressive, and Senator Shaheen and I 
have proudly worked together across party lines to make sure this 
important program continues to be effective.
  Warren Rudman will be remembered as a statesman, someone who loved 
his country and wanted to make it better. In bidding farewell to the 
Senate in 1992, he expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve 
with such talented colleagues in this esteemed body. He also expressed 
his hopes for the future of this body, and this is what he said: ``It 
is a very special place, with very special people, and I hope in the 
coming years the institution can coalesce to bring those talents 
together in a bipartisan way to do what is good for America.''
  As our country continues to face great challenges, may all of us 
remain mindful of Warren Rudman's wise words and the powerful example 
he set for this body. Granite Staters throughout all New Hampshire 
mourn his loss, but we will never forget his legacy as an esteemed 
representative of the people of New Hampshire and someone who always 
put America first.
  Mr. LEAHY. It was a pleasure and an honor for this Senator to serve 
side by side with the late Senator from New Hampshire, Warren Rudman.
  As we in New England knew and, of course, as the people of New 
Hampshire, and we neighbors in Vermont, especially knew--he was a 
skilled and accomplished legislator. He was a credit to this body. He 
was a catalyst for reform. He always kept his word. What was most 
important to me personally is that he was a good and close friend. We 
traveled together, we worked together, and we never let our different 
political parties get in the way of doing things that helped our part 
of the country or our country at large.
  I think he was shaped by his experience as well as by his Yankee 
origins. An Army combat infantry commander, he saw much action during 
the Korean conflict before coming to the Senate. He had been a widely 
respected attorney general from New Hampshire.
  Senator Rudman embodied the characteristics that many of us call the 
old school of Senate values. We served together on the Appropriations 
Committee. We often worked together on national issues, as well as on 
behalf of our two adjoining States. As I said earlier, I quickly 
learned that when Warren Rudman gave his word, you could count on it.
  He served during a time when Senators would readily put aside party 
affiliations to work together. When progress required compromise, as it 
usually does, he was able to help chart the way forward to accommodate 
different viewpoints and interests. Regrettably, that kind of 
bipartisanship at this point in the Senate's history is too rare, and I 
think we have to work to recapture it.
  In the can-do Yankee spirit, he took on difficult challenges and 
stuck with them. From national security and foreign affairs to budget 
policy, he dug into pressing and often prickly issues, and he made a 
difference.
  Well after his retirement from this body--a voluntary retirement--he 
continued to serve the country he loved so deeply. Well before the 
attacks on our Nation of September 11, 2001, he and former Senator Gary 
Hart headed a national advisory panel investigating the threat of 
international terrorism. The sobering conclusions they reached about 
our susceptibility to terrorist attacks were prescient, but largely 
forgotten, until 9/11.
  When I was asked to serve on the advisory board of the Warren B. 
Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership and Public Policy at the 
University of New Hampshire, of course I was pleased to accept. His 
legacy will be reflected well at the Rudman Center, just as his legacy 
of service and accomplishment will continue to be reflected and 
appreciated in this body.
  Madam President, as I say this, it seems perfectly fitting that the 
distinguished senior Senator from New Hampshire is presiding: The 
Senate, and the Nation, are better for Warren Rudman's service.

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