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“TRIBUTE TO RACHEL MELLINGER SCHLESINGER” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the Senate section on pages S14958-S14959 on Oct. 11, 1995.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO RACHEL MELLINGER SCHLESINGER
Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I rise this morning to pay tribute to a wonderful lady and wonderful friend, Rachel Mellinger Schlesinger. Rachel died yesterday morning in Arlington, VA. Rachel was the wife of James Schlesinger, a remarkable public servant who served in Cabinet positions in three administrations.
In a real sense Rachel served as first lady of the Department of Defense, first lady of the Department of Energy, and first lady of the Central Intelligence Agency, when Jim Schlesinger held these important Cabinet posts.
Rachel was a remarkable and accomplished woman, by every measure. She was a talented musician. She was active in the mental health movement, historic preservation, and in the preservation of the rural lands that she loved so much. She was also founder and first chairman of the Ballston Symphony and a deacon in her church.
Rachel rarely involved herself in public issues. She always had her own convictions and opinions, but her capacity to deal with crisis was famous. She accompanied Jim to many distant places in connection with his work and on several occasions, by putting herself willingly in dangerous situations, she helped calm and reassure her friends and our friends around the world and our allies around the world.
On one occasion which reached public attention, Jim was then Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. A Spartan missile warhead test was scheduled in the Aleutians, and there was widespread fear that it would cause an earthquake and a tidal wave known as a tsunami in that area. Rachel packed up her two daughters and her husband and moved them to the island where the test was to take place. The family's presence was widely publicized and calmed much of the alarm in that area.
Rachel traveled with Jim on an extended trip to Asia in 1975 when Jim became the first United States Secretary of Defense to visit Japan for many years. It was after the fall of Saigon, and there were widespread demonstrations. But the trip also generated an outpouring of support, due in no small part to Rachel Schlesinger's presence by Jim Schlesinger's side.
Rachel served as college editor of Mademoiselle magazine after graduation from Radcliffe with honors in American history and literature. After her marriage to Jim, she did some freelance writing for a time, but she soon devoted herself entirely to their growing family, and of course she was very, very proud of their eight wonderful and successful children. After their eight children had grown up, she became active again in charitable and cultural affairs. One of those eight, their daughter, Clara, served very ably in my office as an intern in 1985.
Rachel was a violinist with the Arlington Symphony since 1983. She was on the board of directors and on the executive committee of the symphony. She served on the overseers' committee of the Memorial Church at Harvard, was a deacon and Sunday school teacher at Georgetown Presbyterian Church, and distributed food on many, many occasions to the homeless over a large number of years.
Rachel was absolutely committed to mental health, and she worked closely with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, including testifying before the Congress. Rachel always retained her love of the land, from her childhood days on the family farm in Ohio. In the 1980's, she began to raise Christmas trees in the Shenandoah Valley, delivering them herself near Christmastime, including the delivery of several to the Nunn home just in time for our Christmas celebration.
Rachel's long battle with cancer is now over, but the memory of her rare spirit will comfort and sustain those she loved and cared for in a life of courage and a life of commitment.
I thank the Chair.
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