[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11756]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                REMEMBERING HOWARD BAKER AND ALAN DIXON

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, the Nation recently lost two distinguished 
former members of this body. I join those who mourn former Senate 
majority leader Howard Baker of Tennessee, and former Senator Alan 
Dixon of Illinois. And I am reminded by their passing of the passing of 
an era they helped forge, one in which elected officials of strong 
opinions but good will sought to accommodate the diverse viewpoints of 
this great Nation, rather than using them to divide our people and 
obstruct the operations of government.
  Howard Baker became known as ``the Great Conciliator.'' I am one of 
the few members of the current Senate who served alongside him. We came 
from different places, and from different political traditions. We saw 
the world differently. But I knew him, as all who worked with him knew 
him, as someone who would fight for his positions but also work to 
understand the positions of others.
  He described himself as a moderate at a time when that word wasn't 
out of fashion. And that moderation and sense of fairness are what 
guided him as he helped guide the Nation through one of the most 
searing experiences in our history, the Watergate scandal. As the 
ranking Republican on the Senate committee investigating the scandal, 
he was a calm, collected, comforting presence at a time of great 
tumult. By placing the good of the Nation and the need to protect our 
democracy ahead of his own party's interests, he provided a powerful 
example for us to follow, just as he did in helping to build bipartisan 
support for important civil rights and environmental legislation.
  Alan Dixon, too, was shaped by, and helped to shape, a different era 
in politics. In his memoir, Senator Dixon wrote: ``Generally speaking, 
my political career was built on goodwill and accommodation.'' Too few 
political figures can make such a claim today. As an elected official 
in Illinois, as a Senator, and as a valued member of the Senate Armed 
Services Committee, Senator Dixon gained a reputation for fairness, 
balance and understanding. I remember this well-earned reputation made 
him a great help to Senator Sam Nunn, the Democratic leader on the 
Armed Services Committee, during debate on the annual Defense 
Authorization Act. It is also why he was chosen for the difficult and 
important responsibility of leading the base closure commission.
  Senator Dixon showed that a fairness and accommodation need not 
contradict fighting strongly for your beliefs. He often told the story 
of how during committee debate on a defense bill during the 1980s the 
committee was poised to sign off on buying a new anti-aircraft system. 
Dixon had read that system had serious problems, and though he was then 
relatively junior on the committee, he objected to its inclusion in the 
defense bill. The powerful chairman at the time, Senator Goldwater, 
told Dixon that if he thought there was a problem, he should go down to 
Fort Bliss, TX, that weekend, check it out, and report back to the 
committee. Dixon did, and when he asked, somewhat to the chagrin of his 
military tour guides, for a demonstration of the system, it fired at 88 
targets and missed 87. When he reported back to the committee on his 
findings, it quickly decided to cancel the program, a decision even the 
Pentagon had to support.
  Now, some might see that story as an illustration of the need to 
challenge authority, an argument against going along to getting along--
And it is--But it is important to note that Alan Dixon didn't try to 
demonize his opponents, didn't portray them as enemies. He honestly 
disagreed, raised his objections, pursued the facts, laid them before 
his colleagues, and trusted in their good judgment.
  Our Nation is no less diverse than it was when Howard Baker and Alan 
Dixon practiced the principled politics of accommodation. Our 
challenges are no smaller. The need to bridge gaps rather than widen 
them is just as urgent for us as it was for them. We can, and I hope we 
will, learn from their examples as we confront the challenges we face 
and the needs of the Nation we serve.

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