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“TRIBUTE TO THE STAFF OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES” mentioning the Department of Interior was published in the Senate section on pages S12335-S12336 on Oct. 3, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO THE STAFF OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Mr. JOHNSTON. Mr. President, when I first came to the U.S. Senate, I was assigned to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, which we of course know today as the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. As I prepare to finish my Senate career, I look back on my years on that committee as the source of the most rewarding and intellectually stimulating challenges of my years here. From the Arab embargo of 1973 to the natural gas wars of 1978, from the complex Alaska land issues of the early 1980's to the National Energy Policy Act of 1992, we have been engaged in vitally important work that is often long on complexity and short on glamour.
I am proud of the record we achieved, not only during my 8 years as chairman, but throughout my service, and I wish today to say thank you to a professional staff unlike any other, one which has served the committee and the country so well over the years.
Some of the best minds in the country have served on the committee staff over the years. Whatever their reasons for coming, I believe most stayed and relished their time there because they found themselves in the company of other keen minds, and they knew that their mission would not be mortgaged to politics and that their task was to find honest, pragmatic, workable solutions to vexing problems. Almost all of them have gone on to rewarding careers in government and business, and I can only hope they were as enriched by their experience as the public product was by their service.
Luckily for me, some of the very best and brightest have remained to assist me as my service in this body comes to a close.
ben cooper
One of those staff members who has served me the longest and with particular distinction is the minority staff director of the committee, Dr. Ben Cooper. About the time I joined the committee, we became involved in the development of national energy policy in response to the crude oil supply interruptions in the Middle East that were disrupting our domestic economy. The committee has continued to be involved deeply in this issue, as indicated by its current name, which was attached to the committee during the reorganization of Senate committees that occurred in early 1977.
Shortly after I joined the committee, a long-haired doctor of physics joined the Democratic committee staff from Iowa State, where he had been an instructor. He first joined the staff as a congressional science fellow employed by the then-chairman, our dear departed colleague, Senator Henry M. Jackson. Since those early days, I have worked closely with Ben, who officially became part of my staff in 1981, when I became ranking minority member of the committee. Ben has continued with me through my chairmanship of the committee and through our return to the minority.
Mr. President, there can be no better staff than Dr. Ben Cooper. He is perhaps the only remaining staff of either the House or Senate who has a complete institutional memory of the evolution of modern Federal energy policy. Ben has been active on energy issues that range from crude oil pricing to natural gas deregulation to the current electric restructuring debate. Ben is particularly an expert on nuclear policy, as would be expected from his physics background. I can say without reservation that Ben has played an active and, usually, key staff role on every piece of legislation relating to nuclear matters that has been considered by Congress in the last 20 years. In addition, Ben has played a key role on non-energy-related legislation ranging from public lands legislation to the risk assessment legislation that has been considered by the Senate during the last two Congresses.
Mr. President, throughout his long career as Senate staff, Ben has earned a reputation for honesty and professionalism both among the staff and Members of the House and Senate. Unfortunately for the Senate and, I believe, the process of developing sound public policy, Ben has indicated that he will be leaving the Senate by the end of the year to pursue new challenges.
Mr. President, my friendship with Dr. Ben Cooper will continue, but our daily interaction is not likely to continue, and I will miss Ben's daily good counsel tremendously. I commend Ben for a career well spent and well conducted, congratulate him on the contribution he has made to our Nation and wish him the best in his future pursuits.
tom williams
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has been fortunate to have a second long-term Democratic staff member who is as eminent in his field as is Dr. Cooper in the field of energy policy. I refer, of course, to Tom Williams, who is without equal in his knowledge of Federal policy toward public lands, national parks, the U.S. Forest Service and a variety of lands issues relating to the great State of Alaska.
Tom joined the Democratic staff of the committee in 1973 and has continued his service with the committee through today, except for a brief interlude at the Department of the Interior early in the current administration. During his service with the committee, Tom has served as key staff on every public lands and national parks bill that has been considered or enacted by the U.S. Senate. No staff member in the Congress has a greater institutional knowledge of these important, and often divisive issues that are often at once arcane and tremendously important both to the Nation as a whole and to individuals that may be affected directly by Federal policy.
I have had the pleasure of considering Tom ``my'' staff since I became ranking member of the committee in 1981. Throughout that period of time, I have valued Tom's counsel not only on the parks and lands issues, but on a host of other issues including the mining reform legislation that has been considered by the committee in the past several Congresses. Tom has the ability to counsel wisely and honestly on the various policy options available and on the often diametrically opposed arguments of industry and the environmental community. Tom has that great ability, shared by Ben Cooper and many of my staff, to remain calm and professional in the midst of the hottest and most divisive debates. For that reason, among others, Tom Williams has earned an excellent reputation among Members and staff alike in both the House and Senate.
Mr. President, I will miss my daily interaction with Tom, but I understand that Tom's talents will not be lost to the Senate or the public. I understand that Tom desires to continue in his service and I am sure that my colleague and friend, the senior Senator from Arkansas, who will become the ranking Democrat on the committee, will continue Tom's service with the committee.
Mr. President, I extend my thanks to Tom for his service and counsel to me and for his friendship, and I am pleased that the committee and the Senate will continue to have access to Tom's talents and service.
SAM FOWLER
A uniquely talented attorney serves as minority chief counsel of the committee: Sam Fowler. Sam has a long history of distinguished public service, first with the Smithsonian Institution, then with the President's Council on Environmental Quality, next with the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and, finally, beginning in 1991, with our committee.
Mr. President, Sam is a lawyer's lawyer. If Sam says the law says X, then you can be sure that the law says X. He is one of the most fastidious and careful researchers I have ever encountered. He has a special talent for expressing himself through the written word in a concise and precise manner.
Sam has staffed many issues in which I have taken particular interest. Perhaps in no area has his contribution been greater than in the area of nuclear policy. Sam has exhibited the rare talent, at least among lawyers, for mastering the scientific terms and concepts associated with the development of nuclear power and the safe disposal of nuclear waste.
Finally, Mr. President, I would be remiss if I did not mention one other activity of Sam's that has enlightened and enriched my life and those of the committee staff. Sam, on his own time, prepares incisive memoranda that trace the history and development of various aspects of the institution of republican government. Among his topics have been a history of gift rules, privileged motions, and the evolution of the modern State of the Union address. This aspect of Sam's life illustrates his wonderful intellectual curiosity that is so vital in good staff.
Mr. President, Sam is a treasure of the committee, a treasure I will miss greatly.
DAVID BROOKS
David Brooks came over from the House Interior Committee to join our staff in 1989. He has played a major role in shaping much of this country's recent policy on public lands, national parks, and historic preservation. The California Desert Protection Act is one such example of David's craftsmanship. And there could be no more appropriate bill with which to associate David--whom we often refer to as the third Senator from Arizona --than the Arizona Wilderness Act, to which he devoted his unstinting attention. If we are fortunate enough to see enactment of the pending omnibus parks bill before the end of this Congress, it will owe in significant measure to David's determination and negotiating skills. His great knowledge and exemplary work ethic have added so much to the work of our committee, and I am most grateful.
BOB SIMON
In 1993, I learned that Bob Simon of the Department of Energy would be detailed to the Energy and Natural Resouces Committee. Bob had started working for the Department during the Bush administration, and my staff director, Ben Cooper, told me of the high regard he had for Bob's acumen and integrity. I can say now from the perspective of 3 years later that Ben's endorsement, strong though it was, has turned out to be an understatement.
While many agency detailees treat their time with congressional offices as something like school without the examinations, Bob took his opportunity very seriously and began distinguishing himself almost immediately by his deft and thorough handling of difficult issues. Since coming on board, Bob has won the respect and admiration of his colleagues on the staff and the trust of the members who rely on his work, and he has demonstrated his possession of a rare combination of attributes--intellectual and technical mastery, outstanding political and strategic judgment, and complete reliability--which has made his work extremely valuable.
In particular, Bob's knowledge and expertise in the area of the Federal Government's energy research programs is unrivaled. And on the issue of risk assessment, which is only matched in its importance to the Nation by its lack of glamour and its complexity, Bob Simon provided staff work that was truly remarkable for its thoroughness and incisiveness.
I want to express my sincere appreciation for Bob Simon's hard work and dedication, and I wish him the very best in the future.
CLIFF SIKORA
No subject has presented more of a challenge to my committee or consumed more of our time than the vast issue of electricity deregulation, and I am frank to say that the sterling work done by Betsy Moeller, Don Santa, and Bill Conway raised the bar significantly on my expectations for staff work in this area.
I am pleased to say that Cliff Sikora, whom we enticed to come from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, has more than met those standards. I am persuaded that no one in the country has a more commanding overall grasp of the thorny issue of electricity deregulation than Cliff, and he has done an exceptional job of bringing those talents to bear to assist me and other members of the committee in our deliberations in the scant year or so that he has been on the staff.
VICKI THORNE
Vicki Thorne, through her years as majority and minority office manager and clerk, has performed the unsung, often unnoticed, but always critical job of keeping the committee running, whether in organizing hearings, supervising publications, or playing den mother to a large and diverse family of staff. Her efficiency has been matched only by an equable temperament and warm smile that enabled her and us to get our way far more often than not. She has my deepest thanks.
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