The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“EXECUTIVE SESSION” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S9002 on July 26, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
EXECUTIVE SESSION
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EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations on the Executive Calendar: Nos. 560, 682, 683, 684, 685, and all nominations on the Secretary's desk in the Foreign Service.
Mr. President, might I inquire, are any of those numbered nominations the OMB Director?
I have just found out who they are. The OMB Director is not here.
I further ask unanimous consent that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then return to legislative session.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The nominations were considered and confirmed, en bloc, as follows:
the judiciary
Robert E. Morin, of the District of Columbia, to be an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for the term of fifteen years, vice Curtis E. von Kann, retired.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Rod Grams, of Minnesota, to be a Representative of the United States of America to the 51st Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Claiborne deB. Pell, of Rhode Island, to be a Representative of the United States of America to the 51st Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Alan Philip Larson, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be an Assistant Secretary of State.
Jeffrey Davidow, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be an Assistant Secretary of State.
IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE
Foreign Service nominations beginning Paul P. Blackburn, and ending Veda B. Wilson, which nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record of June 26, 1996.
Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, today the Senate will confirm the nomination of our dear colleague, Claiborne Pell, as the U.S. representative to the 51st session of the U.N. General Assembly. Senator Pell's career and accomplishments were what the Framers of the Constitution probably had in mind when they created the position of U.S. Senator.
For 36 years Claiborne Pell has graced the United States Senate, providing thoughtful leadership on an exceptional range of issues.
Millions of Americans have been able to attend college because of his historic role in creating the program which the Congress, in an unprecedented honor for a sitting Senator, named Pell grants in 1980.
Thousands of American communities have been immeasurably enriched by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, which he helped create in 1965.
Champion of international environmental concerns and nuclear disarmament treaties, crusader for human rights, primary sponsor of legislation to assist the handicapped, originator of the High-Speed Ground Transportation Act; his vision has helped transform this country he loves in so many tangible ways. But in light of his pending nomination, it is appropriate to speak of Claiborne Pell's first real job.
In the spring and summer of 1945, millions of us left military service. Most of us went back, as I did, to the schooling or jobs we had left to fight for our country. Claiborne Pell did something a little different. He helped change the world.
In June 1945, he went to San Francisco as a member of the International Secretariat of the U.N. Conference on International Organization, the conference that drafted the U.N. Charter.
In all, 282 delegates representing 50 countries took part in drafting the U.N. Charter, though the bulk of the work was accomplished by the 1,058 persons working for the International Secretariat. He may be the only government official of those participating in the organizational conference who is still in public office anywhere on this planet--young Claiborne Pell on assignment from his beloved Coast Guard.
As Assistant Secretary of Conference III, the Enforcement Arrangements Committee, he helped draft articles 43, 44, and 45 of the United Nations Charter that gave the Security Council the right to take military action to prevent aggression.
He collected the ballots at the vote to confirm the Charter. And to this day he is never caught without a copy of the Charter in his pocket. We in the Senate are honored to have the beloved former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Claiborne Pell, counted among those who were present at the creation of the Charter.
He has lived the promise of the United Nations Charter for 51 years--
on State Department assignment in Eastern Europe during the harshest early days of the cold war; and as a private citizen organizing the rescue of over 100,000 Hungarian refugees after the betrayal of the 1956 revolution against Soviet rule. In his efforts to enhance environmental protection, he is one of the few persons--the only United States Senator--who attended both the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development [UNCED] in Rio, and its predecessor, the 1972 Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm.
He has championed the adoption of an international legal regime for the peaceful use of the seas. As such he has participated in the creation of the Law of the Sea Convention. Beginning on September 29, 1967 he introduced three Senate resolutions urging the President to negotiate such a measure. Those resolutions and a draft treaty that Senator Pell proposed in 1969 led first to the Seabed Arms Control Treaty, prohibiting nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction from the ocean floor, ratified by the Senate in 1972.
The Law of the Sea Convention would not be opened for signatures for 10 more years until 1982. Senator Pell's long efforts in this regard are reflected in the achievements contained in the Convention which codifies, among other things, freedom of navigation rights, and the exclusive use of marine resources by countries within 200 miles of their shores.
Claiborne Pell is a Senator for the ages. We in the Senate shall miss him. He will no doubt serve with distinction as the United States Representative to the 51st session of the United Nations General Assembly. I congratulate Senator Pell for his numerous achievements and wish him well in his future endeavors.
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