    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 21 (Monday, May 29, 1995)]
    [Page 884]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Statement on the Death of Les Aspin

    May 21, 1995

        I speak for millions of Americans when mourning the death today of
    Les Aspin and join many others in saying that he was my friend.
        As a Member of the House of Representatives for 22 years, Chairman
    of the House Armed Services Committee for 8, Secretary of Defense, and
    Chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, Les
    rendered our Nation extraordinary, selfless service.
        Les Aspin accomplished greatly because he cared greatly. He brought
    the same commitment to his most recent assignment that he brought to
    Washington as a young Congressional aide, staff assistant at the Council
    of Economic Advisors, and Defense Department official in the 1960's.
        No one knew better than he how Washington works, but he never
    thought of it as a game for its own sake. He was here to make a
    difference. And he did. He probed and helped shape a generation of
    American defense policies and budgets, culminating in the decisive
    bottom-up review of our military strategy, which he conducted as
    Secretary of Defense.
        Les Aspin was unique. He brought the light of his joy in living and
    the heat of his intellect to every occasion. He never met a person who
    didn't like him. And we all will miss him.