Mr. President, when I first came to the Senate, I had the good fortune, as my friend the distinguished Senator from Montana did, to serve on a committee with Pat Moynihan. My friend had it double; he not only got to serve with him on the…
Mr. President, when I first came to the Senate, I had the good fortune, as my friend the distinguished Senator from Montana did, to serve on a committee with Pat Moynihan. My friend had it double; he not only got to serve with him on the Environment and Public Works Committee but also the Finance Committee.
Even though this is a time of sadness because we have lost a giant in the history of America, for those of us who spent time with Pat Moynihan, just mentioning his name brings a smile to our faces. There is no one I have ever served with in government or known in government who is anything like Pat Moynihan. He was a unique individual.
I was over in the House gym this morning, meeting with someone I came to the House of Representatives with, Ed Towns, from New York. We were talking about Pat Moynihan. Congressman Towns said the last conversation he had with Pat Moynihan was a very pleasant conversation. Pat Moynihan called him--very typical of Pat Moynihan.
I wish I could mimic his voice. People who worked for Pat Moynihan can talk just like him. I can't. But he said--with his distinctive staccato delivery--he wanted to name this big building in Brooklyn for Governor Carey.
Congressman Towns said: No, I have someone else. I don't need to embarrass that person by mentioning that name. He said: I have someone else and I can't agree with you, Senator. I know Governor Carey was a good person, but I think we should name it after someone else.
Senator Moynihan, the gentleman that he was, simply said: Thank you very much.
Five or six weeks later he called back and said: You know, Congressman Towns, I am getting old. He said: This means a lot to me to have this building named after one of my close personal friends. I hope you will reconsider.
Ed Towns said: I have reconsidered. You can do it.
Senator Moynihan said: Did I hear you just say I could name this building after Governor Carey?
And Congressman Towns said: Yes.
Pat Moynihan said: I am so happy.
Senator Baucus and I can imagine that conversation because he was truly a gentleman.
I had the privilege, as I indicated, of serving with him. I had the good fortune over many years to serve with many outstanding people in the Senate, men and women with extraordinary talent and achievements, people who have accomplished so much in their personal and professional lives, people highly educated, people who have great records of military service, and people who are just good public servants.
Certainly there have been many skilled orators in the Senate--today and in the past--and many other highly intelligent Senators, but I have to
say, I trust nobody will disagree or be offended if I point out that Pat Moynihan stood out as an intellectual giant in the Senate, not only for the time he served here but in the history of our country.
Pat Moynihan spoke in a unique style, with a delivery that would not be taught in an oratory class.
He was a professor. He was a college professor, and he never lost that ability to teach.
I always felt, when I was in the presence of Pat Moynihan, that I had the opportunity to learn from him, whether we were on the Senate floor, or in a committee hearing, or in an informal conversation. I hope no one is going to be upset with me, but when I ran the Democratic Policy Committee for a number of years, we would take down names of speakers. I cheated a little bit and always moved Pat high up on the list because I loved to hear him talk, and he did not have a lot of patience and would leave if you did not recognize him pretty quickly.
He would come to our luncheons, and I remember he usually ordered egg salad sandwiches. He would eat, listen for a while, and if it were not something he was really interested in, he would go back to his hideaway and start writing. That is what he did most of the time.
Pat was unlike most of us. We devote a lot of our time to constituent services. Pat Moynihan did not do that. He was an intellectual giant, and he spent his time in the Senate reading and writing. He was a great thinker. Although he certainly did a good job of representing the State of New York, and served the interests of his constituents as his popularity makes clear, he often focused on the bigger picture and contemplated big ideas.
We identify Pat Moynihan with New York. He was actually a native of the American West. He was born in Tulsa, OK. His family moved to New York when he was a child. His father abandoned them, and his mother, thereafter, struggled to provide for Pat and his siblings.
Pat always worked hard. He worked as a shoeshine boy, later as a longshoreman. He did not come from a privileged background, but he had a privileged education because of his great intellect. He was able to achieve much because he was a hard worker and extremely smart.
He graduated first in his class from high school in Harlem, and by serving in the Navy, he was able to attend college. He graduated from Tufts University and remained there to earn his Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He also studied at the London School of Economics as a Fulbright Scholar.
Pat had enlisted in the Navy during World War II. Just a short time ago, when he was still serving in the Senate, he had back surgery for an injury sustained years ago while he was in the U.S. Navy. He was proud of his military service and grateful that he was sent to college for training as an officer. But he was, indeed, a scholar. He was a professor at Syracuse University early in his career and then later at Harvard. He published numerous articles and studies covering a wide array of topics that reflected the tremendous breadth of his interests and depth of his knowledge.
I am not sure which Senator said this, although I think it was Dale Bumpers, who also recently has published a book--but if it was not Dale Bumpers, I apologize for not giving credit to the right Senator--who said he had not read as many books as Pat Moynihan had written. That is how he looked at Pat Moynihan. He was a voracious writer. He wrote 18 books, including 9 while he was a Senator. In addition, he wrote parts of many other books and articles too numerous to mention.
After one of his books was published, while we here in the Senate, he asked me if I had read it. I said: Pat, I didn't receive the book. He said: Well, maybe somebody on your staff borrowed it. So he gave me another copy, and I read it.
Much of his writing is famous. For me personally the most far- reaching, the most visionary article he wrote was called ``Defining Deviancy Down.'' In this brief article--probably no more than 30 pages--he discussed how our societal values have changed over the years, how one thing we would not accept 20 years ago, now we accept. It is a wonderful article that reveals his perspective and insights and calls on us to recognize we have to change what is going on in our society.
Senator Moynihan had great compassion for America's poor, especially for children growing up in poverty. He sought to develop public policy that took into account social scientific methods and analysis. He applied academic research to benefit people living in the real world.
Pat was also interested in architecture and historic preservation. He worked to improve the appearance of Washington, D.C. to reflect its status as our Nation's Capital, and of federal buildings across the country. Those of us who leave the Capitol and travel along Pennsylvania Avenue, and see the beautiful buildings will remember his role in improving this area. When I was back here going to law school, that area of the city was a slum. It was a slum. Right off Capitol Hill, it was a slum. And Pat Moynihan recognized, when President Kennedy was inaugurated, that should change. And he changed it. He personally changed it.
Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation was something that Pat Moynihan thought up. When you drive down that street today, you see the beautiful building that we are proud of, that is part of the U.S. Capitol. That was the work of Pat Moynihan.
I can remember, there was one Senator who thought it was really bad that the courthouses we were building around the country were basically too nice. Pat Moynihan proceeded to indicate to all of us that is what we should do, that we should construct buildings for the future that people would like to look at that are nice inside. And Pat Moynihan won that battle.
To serve on the Public Works Committee with Pat Moynihan was like going to school and not having to take the tests because there was not a subject that came up that he did not lecture us on--the great architect Moses, not out of the Bible but of New York City. In everything we did Pat Moynihan taught us to be a little better than ourselves.
My thoughts and sympathies are with Senator Moynihan's wife Liz, his daughter Maura, his sons Timothy and John, and his grandchildren.
Mr. President, I wish words could convey to everyone within the sound of my voice what a great man Pat Moynihan was, how much he did to benefit the State of New York and our country. Because of my contact with Pat Moynihan, I honestly believe I am a better person. I better understand government. I do not have his intellect, his ability to write, but I think I understand a little bit about his enthusiasm for government and how important it is to people.