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“TRIBUTE TO SENATOR SIMON” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S12120-S12121 on Oct. 1, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO SENATOR SIMON
Mr. PELL. Mr. President, I first met the senior Senator from Illinois
[Mr. Simon] some 40 years ago in Moscow when we found ourselves sitting next to each other at the Bolshoi Ballet. Little did we ever think that our paths would intertwine so closely in the years that were to follow.
After Paul came to the House of Representatives in 1974, we found ourselves in close collaboration in advancing the cause of education. We worked together on a myriad of education issues when he was chairman of the House Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education. When he came to the Senate more than a decade ago, he joined me on the Education Subcommittee and we have worked even more closely together on education issues since.
There is no Member of either House whose opinion on education issues I respect more. Paul Simon is the person we turn to for guidance on the subjects of literacy and adult education. His is the counsel I have valued most in higher education, on issues such as TRIO, institutional aid, international education, graduate education, foreign language instruction, and student aid. Even when we disagreed, as we did on direct loans, I listened to what Paul Simon said, and I have had a deep and abiding respect for his advocacy of that cause. While I have normally deferred to Paul on library issues, I must candidly admit that the opinion of Jean, Paul's wonderfully talented wife, carried equal weight on those matters.
During Paul's first term in the Senate, our paths were to become further intertwined when he became a member of the Foreign Relations Committee. During his 8 years as a member of the committee he brought to its work the energy, creativity, and intellectual capacity which are his hallmarks. Much of that time he was chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and he was tireless and eloquent in urging the committee's attention to the plight of that often neglected continent.
Paul Simon is very much an internationalist and he made important contributions in such areas as human rights, arms control, and foreign assistance. I deeply appreciate having him as an ally in the efforts to reinvigorate the Arms Control and Disarmament Administration and to restrain the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. He was a true stalwart.
Finally, Mr. President, he brought his passion for the teaching of foreign languages to the field of foreign policy. He consistently pressed the State Department to broaden its foreign language capabilities and every State Department nominee knew that, during a nomination hearing, Senator Simon was likely to grill him or her on how fluent they were in the language of the country to which they had been assigned. Alas, too often Senator Simon learned that the fluency was minimal, but he never ceased to press the Department to improve.
Throughout the period we have worked together, I have never failed to be impressed by the depth of Paul's knowledge, the quiet deliberation with which he pursued his goals, the strength of his convictions, and perhaps most important, the wisdom of his counsel. I can think of no more decent and dedicated public servant.
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