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“REMEMBERING A. DUANE SCHWARTZ” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S1773 on March 13, 2017.
The Department is one of the oldest in the US, focused primarily on law enforcement and the federal prison system. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, detailed wasteful expenses such as $16 muffins at conferences and board meetings.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
REMEMBERING A. DUANE SCHWARTZ
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, today I wish to honor the life of a devoted public servant, A. Duane Schwartz, who passed away earlier this year.
Duane was widely admired for his strong fidelity to the law and his dedication to justice. For 20 years, he served the Western District of Kentucky as the head of the criminal division of the U.S. attorney's office and, during that time, successfully prosecuted the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan in Louisville. He also helped end what was then the largest methamphetamine lab in the Midwest. Duane fought for justice and left his community better than he found it.
He also worked to keep government accountable to the people. As a leader in Operation Boptrot, Duane led the undercover investigation against and eventual conviction of many State legislators for taking bribes.
Duane earned the praise of multiple U.S. attorneys under whom he worked and was awarded the Justice Department's Special Achiever Award by Attorney General Janet Reno in 1999.
I was proud to know Duane as a classmate in law school. Even back then, he was known for his integrity, commitment, and warmth. I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his wife, Ann, and I would ask all of my colleagues here to join me in honoring this distinguished servant of the law.
The Courier-Journal published an article on Duane's career. I ask unanimous consent that a copy of the article be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
Veteran Prosecutor A. Duane Schwartz Dies
(By Andrew Wolfson)
A. Duane Schwartz, who supervised the prosecution of public corruption probe Operation Boptrot as the longtime head of the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's office in Louisville, died Saturday at his home. He was 74.
Schwartz was diagnosed seven years ago with Alzheimer's disease, according to his daughter, Jennifer Scutchfield, an attorney and city council member in Lexington.
During two separate tenures in the office, Schwartz successfully prosecuted the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan in Louisville as well as defendants responsible for the then-largest methamphetamine lab in the Midwest, according to a citation from the Justice Department.
He led the prosecution of Boptrot, the undercover investigation that resulted in conviction of more than a dozen state legislators from 1992 to 1995 for taking bribes and other inducements.
More recently, in 1999, he tried and convicted Brennan Callan for partially sinking the Belle of Louisville, winning a 30-month sentence and an order for $987,000 in restitution.
Former U.S. Attorney Joe Whittle in an interview Wednesday called Schwartz ``an all-American guy'' and one of the best prosecutors he ever worked with.
``I valued his counsel on whether to prosecute or not,'' Whittle said. ``He was a moral man.''
John Kuhn, the current U.S. attorney, said in a statement that Schwartz was ``universally recognized as an outstanding prosecutor, a sage leader, and a warm, faithful, loving friend. Duane elevated the quality of our work and strengthened our commitment to justice.''
Schwartz ran track and played basketball, baseball and football at Atherton High School, and despite a car accident that he later said ruined his knees, he was recruited by several universities before deciding on the University of Kentucky, where his father wanted him to go so he could see him play.
But coach Blanton Collier left after Schwartz's freshman year and his successor, Charlie Bradshaw, ``turned football into a nightmare,'' Schwartz said years later when he was honored by Atherton. His experience is cited in author Shannon Ragland's ``The Thin Thirty: The Untold Story of Brutality, Scandal and Redemption Schwartz's for Charlie Bradshaw's 1962 Kentucky Football Team.'' Schwartz switched to baseball, won a scholarship and lettered in the sport for three years.
After graduating from UK's law school in 1967, he returned to Louisville, where he was general counsel for Tube Turns, served from 1971 as a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office, and then left to work for 10 years as regional counsel for the U.S. Postal Service. He returned to the U.S. attorney's office where he was chief of the criminal section for 20 years until his retirement in 2004.
He was honored by Attorney General Janet Reno for superior service in 1999 and also won the Justice Department's special achiever award.
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