Congressional Record: March 26, 2003 (Senate)
Page S4426-S4429
TRIBUTE TO DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN
Mrs. CLINTON. Madam President, I come to the floor on very sad
business, both for this body, for my State, and my country. We have
just received word that Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan has passed
away. For those of us who were privileged to know him, to work with
him, to admire and respect him, this is a loss beyond my capacity to
express.
Senator Moynihan for decades represented the highest ideals and
values of the United States of America. A son of Hell's Kitchen in New
York City, he rose to be a confidante and adviser to Presidents. He is
responsible for many of the most important ideas and legislative
programs that have improved the lives of people in New York, people
here in Washington, DC, and our country and around the world.
I am very honored to hold the seat that Senator Moynihan held for so
long and so well. Along with his wonderful wife Liz Moynihan, they have
been great counselors and advisers to me personally. I will miss him
greatly.
Sometimes when I sit here on the floor of the Senate, I wish that
Senator Moynihan could be here in spirit as well as body, that his wise
counsel could influence our decisionmaking, that he would remind us
that what we do, what we say, what we vote for is not just for today,
it is for all time. It goes down into the history books. It represents
the judgments that we make. It truly displays the values that we claim
to hold.
He understood that being a U.S. Senator was a precious trust. Anyone
who ever heard him speak knows the experience of learning more than you
ever thought possible in a short period of time. He could explain and
expound on such a range of subjects that it took my breath away. I
remember riding with him through western New York on a bus during the
1992 campaign and hearing the most exquisite disposition about the
history of the Indian nations, the Revolutionary War, the geological
formations. The love he had for New York and America was overwhelming
and so obvious to anyone who spent more than a minute in his company.
He also held high standards about what we should expect from this
great country of ours. He wanted us to keep looking beyond the short
term, looking beyond the horizon, thinking about the next generation,
understanding the big problems that confront us, having the courage to
tackle what is not immediately popular, even not immediately
understandable, because that is what we are charged to do in this
deliberative body.
Senator Moynihan's scholarly undertakings also will stand the test of
time.
[[Page S4427]]
He sometimes was ahead of his time. In each of his writings or his
speeches, whether you agreed with him or not, you were forced to think
and think hard. He certainly opened my eyes to a lot of difficult
issues.
I could not have had a stronger, more helpful adviser during my
campaign than Senator Moynihan. I started my listening tour of my
exploration of whether or not to run for this office at Pinders Corner,
his farm in upstate New York, a place that he loved beyond words.
I met him in a little schoolhouse, a 19th century schoolhouse that
was on the property where he wrote. He would walk down the road from
his house to that little schoolhouse every day where he would think
deeply and write about the issues that he knew would be important, not
just for tomorrow's headline but for years and years to come.
There is not any way that anyone will ever fill his place in this
Senate, not just in the order of succession definition but in the
intellectual power, the passion, the love of this extraordinary body
and our country. He will be so missed.
On behalf of myself and my family and the people I represent, I
extend my condolence and sympathy not only to his wonderful family and
not only to New Yorkers who elected him time and time again, increasing
majorities from one end of the State to the next, but to our country.
We have lost a great American, an extraordinary Senator, an
intellectual, and a man of passion and understanding about what really
makes this country great.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I rise in abject sadness on the
horrible news that Senator Moynihan has passed from our midst. When it
was announced in our caucus that this terrible event had occurred, you
could just see the energy come out of the room and the sadness come on
everybody's face. Senator Moynihan was a unique individual. He wasn't
just another Senator. He wasn't just another human being. He was very
special.
Rarely has one man changed society so with his ideas, the idea that
one man can change society for the better. Senator Moynihan's life was
testament to that fact. His life was testament to the fact that one man
who just thinks can make an enormous difference. He was truly a giant--
a giant as a thinker, as a Senator, and as a human being. He was a kind
and compassionate person, a loving husband. Liz, our thoughts go out to
you and to all of the Moynihan children and family. I have known him
for a very long time.
When I was a student at Harvard College, I audited his course. I got
to know him a little bit then. As I went through my congressional
career, we used to have lunch every so often. He was a complete joy to
just sit down and have lunch with and exchange ideas.
He looked out for people. He cared about people. He had real courage.
When he disagreed with the conventional wisdom, nothing would stop Pat
Moynihan from making his view heard and making it heard in such an
interesting and intellectually and thoughtful way.
Again, he changed our world for the better. There are hundreds of
millions of human beings in this country who do not know it, but he
made their lives better. There are billions of people in the world, and
through his work he made their lives better.
Senator Moynihan was loved in my home State of New York from one end
of the State to the other. We are a big, broad, diverse State. It is
very hard to find consensus with 19 million New Yorkers, but just about
everybody loved Pat Moynihan. He did it through a big heart and a great
mind.
He is now with his Maker. I know I will be looking up to the heavens
for inspiration, as I looked to Senator Moynihan's office when he was
still with us.
I very much regret his passing. I pray for the Moynihan family and
for the children. I hope God gives us a few more Pat Moynihans in this
Senate and in this country. I thank the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I commend the distinguished Senator
from New York for his eloquence and his empathy for the family
especially of our departed colleague, Pat Moynihan.
The Senator from New York used the term "giant," and, indeed, in
this case, I can think of no better word to describe the man, the
magnitude, the depth, the history, the persona of Pat Moynihan.
"The Almanac of American Politics" called Pat Moynihan the Nation's
best thinker among politicians since Lincoln and its best politician
among thinkers since Jefferson. Scholar, educator, statesman, adviser
to four Presidents--Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford--Pat
Moynihan was the only person in American history to serve in a Cabinet
or sub-Cabinet position in four successive administrations.
As my colleagues have noted, he represented the State of New York for
24 years in the Senate with unique vision, imagination, intelligence,
and integrity. In many respects, Pat Moynihan was larger than life,
whether on the streets of New York or in the corridors of this Capitol.
He was a beloved father, grandfather, friend, and colleague to so many
of us.
I, too, extend my condolences on behalf of the entire Senate to his
wife Liz, to his children, Tim, Maura, and John, his grandchildren,
Zora and Michael Patrick. New York and the Nation have lost a giant.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.
Mr. LOTT. Madam President, I was very sorry to learn of the passing
of our good friend and great Senator from New York, Senator Moynihan. I
wanted to come and extend condolences on behalf of myself and a lot of
other Senators to the family, the children, the grandchildren, and the
people of New York, and to America because we have lost truly a great
man in Senator Pat Moynihan.
Sometimes people do not realize the types of relationships we do
build in this Chamber across the broad philosophical and partisan
divide. But Pat Moynihan was not that kind of man. He was always
willing to work with Senators, no matter where they were from or what
their views were, to try to do the right thing.
Since I have been watching the Senate over the last 30 years up close
and personal, as a House Member and a Senator, I have not known a more
brilliant and more erudite Senator than the distinguished Senator Pat
Moynihan of New York. He served his country in so many different
critical roles.
He studied, wrote papers, and made us realize problems we would just
as soon not talk about--problems with the children in America, the
problems of poverty, the importance of the world community.
He did so many exceptional things for Democratic administrations and,
yes, Republican administrations, and in the majority and in the
minority in the Senate. I grew to admire him and appreciate him, to
seek his advice, and even try to get his vote on occasion, and on
occasion he gave it because I was able to convince him that maybe it
was the right thing to do.
He also had a sense of humor I learned to appreciate. But more than
anything, I will remember my encounters with Senator Moynihan in the
little dining room downstairs. About once a week--sometimes not that
often, maybe once a month--I would go down to get a bite to eat and he
would be there. He always ate strange orders of food, I might say, but
I just loved his knowledge. It became an opportunity for me to learn
about the world. I would pick a country: Tell me about India. An hour
later he was still talking.
I remember one time, I said: I do not quite understand what is going
on in East Timor, and he corrected my pronunciation and told me what
was going on in that part of the world, what had happened
historically--such a wealth of knowledge--all the players involved, the
religious considerations, what the solutions could have been, what the
solutions might be, what the future would hold. More than once--I would
say at least three times--before I got back to my office, before the
afternoon
[[Page S4428]]
was out, a book would arrive that he had written or that I should read
to understand what was going on in the world. What a special touch.
Senator Pat Moynihan tried to help educate this Senator, one who
needed a lot of help, but he gave me a greater appreciation of our
relationship with countries and people all over the world.
This was a giant of a man, a giant of a Senator, a humble man, in
many respects. I have missed him since he left the Senate, and we will
all miss him now that he has gone on to his great reward.
I had to come to the floor and express my personal feelings about the
great Senator from New York and how much he meant to me personally, to
the Senate, and to the country.
I yield the floor, Madam President.
Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Alexander). The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I have just heard the saddening news that
our former colleague, Senator Moynihan of New York, has passed away.
This is a great loss for the State of New York, but it is also a great
loss for the people of the United States. He was one of the truly
outstanding public servants of his time and one of the intellectual
towers of this body.
I first met Pat Moynihan when I served in the Nixon administration
working at the Department of Transportation. I can say with some
accuracy that the name Pat Moynihan filled us all with dread and fear
because he was the President's counselor on domestic issues. We were
afraid he would come to the Department of Transportation and expose all
of our weaknesses; that with his intellect he could discover very
quickly where we were doing things wrong.
I met him at the White House as we would go over and discuss various
transportation issues. On one occasion, Secretary Volpe invited Mr.
Moynihan to come to the Department and address all of the Department's
senior management. We had a program of management dinners where all of
the senior officials of the Department would gather together and we
would have a speaker come in and talk with us. Mr. Moynihan was the
first of those speakers, along with Bryce Harlow, who came at my
invitation, a little later. That was my moment in the sun with
Secretary Volpe, that I was able to call Bryce Harlow and get him to
come over and give the address. I still remember very clearly what Pat
Moynihan said to us on that occasion and the lesson he gave us.
Being the student of history that he was, he went back to relatively
recent history in describing pivotal events in America. He made this
point: Political scientists assume that President Kennedy and President
Johnson were activist Presidents, whereas President Eisenhower is
always described as a passive President, or a pacifist kind of
President. He said that particular characterization is given by their
opponents, as well as their defenders, people defending Eisenhower's
passive attitude toward Government, as well as those attacking it, and
so on with Kennedy and Johnson.
However, he said, history will show that President Eisenhower
affected life in the United States more than all of the things done by
Kennedy and Johnson put together. Why? Because President Eisenhower was
responsible for the creation of the interstate highway system.
Recognize again, he was addressing a group of officials at the
Department of Transportation. He had done his homework and focused on a
transportation issue. He outlined for us the changes in American life
that came from the interstate highway system, how cities that were left
off the system more or less withered and died and other cities that
found themselves on the system had tremendous growth; how the system
created efficiency for the transportation of goods and people all over
the United States.
I remember one statistic, when I worked at the Department of
Transportation, that said 95 percent of intercity trips took place on
the interstate highway system. We focused on travel as being a
competition in those days between air travel and rail travel, and
indeed in the industrial age, going back to Abraham Lincoln's time and
after the Civil War, almost all intercity trips were by rail. Then the
airlines came in and we talked about the airlines cutting into the rail
industry.
He pointed out it was not the airline industry that destroyed
railroad passenger traffic; It was the interstate highway system and
the convenience that came with the opportunity to take one's own
automobile and go from one city to the other and then have local
transportation while there. They did not have to catch a cab when they
came out of the train station. They brought it with them.
It was this ability to see beyond the specifics of conventional
wisdom, step back and see the overall picture that defined Pat
Moynihan. He did it for us in that particular speech, but he did it
throughout his entire career.
I remember as we became acquainted that he talked with me about the
work he did with my father when my father was in the Senate and he was
in the Nixon administration. They were talking about programs that the
Nixon administration tried to put into place which, for one reason or
another, the Congress did not accept. He said to me, if we had
prevailed in that program that Wallace Bennett was for, we wouldn't
have many of the urban problems that we have today.
I won't try to imitate his accent because it was distinctly his and
was part of his charm.
One of the things that I had not understood but that I came to know
while Pat Moynihan was in the Senate was the role he played in the
rejuvenation of Washington, DC. The story is told and accepted as
conventional wisdom that when John F. Kennedy went in his inaugural
parade from the Capitol to the White House, he noticed how rundown
Pennsylvania Avenue was--and it was. Those of us who remember
Pennsylvania Avenue in the 1960s remember it as a place of rundown
seedy shops and disreputable buildings that were badly in need of
replacement. The conventional wisdom is that John F. Kennedy noticed
that as he went by in his limousine and said, We have to do something
about that. And the rejuvenation of Pennsylvania Avenue began in the
Kennedy administration.
In fact, that is not true. It was not John F. Kennedy who noticed it;
it was Pat Moynihan who noticed it and called it to the attention of
John F. Kennedy, who, then, in the spirit of all of us in politics,
took his staffer's advice and put it forward as his own.
Pat Moynihan, as chairman of what we used to call the Public Works
Committee--now it is the Environment and Public Works Committee--Pat
Moynihan, of what we used to call the Public Works Committee, presided
over the public works that saw to it that Pennsylvania Avenue was
turned into the kind of memorial avenue that the world's greatest power
deserves; that it changed from what it had been to become the
architectural delight that it is today.
I had not realized that until I read Pat Moynihan's memos. He shared
them with me, in another circumstance, and going through the memos I
realized he was personally the driving force behind that kind of an
effort. That demonstrates how much of a renaissance man he was. He was
interested in architecture. He was interested in art. He was one of
those who helped create the National Endowment for the Arts.
Yes, as a legislator he was interested in public issues and public
policy, but as a renaissance man he remained interested in just about
everything else.
I can't think of any career covering a wider number of opportunities
than his: Ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador to India,
serving Presidents regardless of party, regardless of ideology, with
wisdom, clarity, and again the ability to see the big picture, the
overall historical circumstance, and not just the issue directly in
front of him.
I remember when he was chairman of the Finance Committee and we were
locked in this Chamber in a bitter battle over health care. He did his
duty. He was the good soldier. He did his best to carry the water for
the administration. But in private conversations with him he would
candidly share some of
[[Page S4429]]
the same concerns that the rest of us had. While he was the good
soldier all the way to the end, I know he gave the administration Dutch
uncle advice as to what they should be doing.
I remember sitting in the Cabinet Room of the White House when
President Clinton had a group of us down to talk about what we needed
to do to get trade authority, to get fast track. All of us were being
appropriately respectful of the President, as you are in that kind of
circumstance. All of us were trying to put forward our opinions in as
tender and gingerly expressed a way as we could because we were with
the President. Pat Moynihan sat at the President's left and the
President said; "What do we need to do to get trade authority
passed?"
He said; "Sir, you need to get more Democrats."
That warmed my heart. The Republicans were in favor of fast track. We
didn't want to say it. And Pat Moynihan summarized it: "Sir, you need
to get more Democrats."
The President looked at him and said; "Pat, you are absolutely
right. How do we do that?"
Then they had a very candid discussion.
He was not overly awed by anyone, regardless--with respect to their
position. But he was always awed by any human being who had something
to tell him. His attitude was that he could learn from anyone.
His health was not the best. His passing is not unexpected. But this
is a time for us to rejoice in the opportunity of having known him,
having worked with him in this body and having been blessed by his
intellect, his humor, his humility, and his great understanding. We
shall miss him, and we express our great condolence to his wife Liz and
to all of the members of his family.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coleman). The Senator from Tennessee.
Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I am glad I had the opportunity to hear
the Senator from Utah talk about our friend Pat Moynihan because in
1969 the Senator from Utah and I had different jobs. I was working for
Bryce Harlow in the White House and he was working for Secretary Volpe,
both of us in the Nixon administration.
One of the things I think many people will look at, about the Nixon
administration, is what an extraordinarily diverse group of individuals
the President was able to attract. The Senator from Utah and I were
young persons. I am not talking about us at that time. But I am talking
about Henry Kissinger and Arthur Burns and Bryce Harlow and foremost
among them was Pat Moynihan.
Particularly when we look at a Washington, DC, where so many issues
are so divisive and so partisan--and there was a lot of partisanship
back then. Look back at 1969. Here was Pat Moynihan, a Harvard
professor, Kennedy Democrat, who became the Republican President's
domestic policy adviser. He was an extraordinary person. He was, as the
Senator from Utah pointed out, a man who could see a long distance.
In the 1960s he coined the phrase "benign neglect," when he talked
about the breakdown of the American family and the effect it might have
on African-American families. He was courageous enough to talk about
that. He predicted at that time that if the rate of breakdown of
families that was then occurring among African-American families were
to occur among all families, it would be a catastrophe for America.
That percentage has long since passed. Pat Moynihan was willing to talk
about it.
He was a great teacher. He attracted into the White House at that
time a cadre of young Moynihan devotees who are still around today--for
example, Checker Finn, a young Harvard graduate who is a leading
education expert; and Chris DeMuth, who has had a distinguished career
here. All of those young people were attracted by his intellect and his
sense of public service.
He had an ability even then to be a person who crossed party lines.
He was one of the old Democratic liberals such as Al Shanker--some of
them are now called neoconservatives today--who saw our country in a
very accurate and clear way.
He believed in America. He was an immigrant, a great immigrant, an
Irish immigrant, with all the characteristics that we think of when we
think of great Irish immigrants, but he was an American first. He was
proud of where he came from but he was prouder of the country to which
he came.
He loved politics. His favorite character was George Washington
Plunkett, the boss of Tammany Hall. He wrote a forward for a book on
Plunkett. Plunkett's favorite comment was:
I seen my opportunities and I took them.
He went to the United Nations where he pounded the desk. He went to
India as Ambassador. He ran for the Senate. Think of this. He ran in
1976, a Republican from the then-disgraced Nixon administration. I know
what that was like. I was in that administration. I had been a
candidate myself in 1974--lost; and here was Pat Moynihan in New York
State, a Democratic State, running for the Senate as a Democrat, able
to be elected because of the respect people had for him.
I watched him during his whole career. When I was Education Secretary
he came down and lectured me from this body because he wanted me to be
more aggressive on standards. But he was always such a gentle person.
As I have gone along in life, I have especially appreciated people
who are well known and famous who take time for people who are not so
well known and famous. I can remember when my wife and I, in our early
30s--I was, she was younger--went to Harvard, to the John F. Kennedy
School of Government, where Pat had gone in the early 1970s. He was a
famous man, a great professor, a former adviser to Presidents. Everyone
knew him. No one knew us. But he saw us and he spent 45 minutes or an
hour with us. He was a teacher and we were his students.
I am glad to be on the floor today to hear my friend from Utah speak
of such a distinguished American. We need more Senators, more public
leaders, with the breadth and the intellect and the understanding of
American history that Pat Moynihan had. We need more who have the
capacity to work across party lines, to solve tough problems such as
Social Security, which he helped to solve, and to enjoy politics, to
love George Washington Plunkett, and the rough and tumble of Tammany
Hall politics, but at the same time, when the Nation's issues are
foremost, to put them first.
So I rise today to salute a great American, a real patriot, and
perhaps a person who most of us--Senators or students--will remember as
a great teacher.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________
Congressional Record: March 26, 2003 (House)
Page H2360-H2362
Tribute to the Late Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time
and for his leadership on this important bill that I am supporting. But
I rise today to pay tribute to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and, on
behalf of my colleagues and constituents, to join with them in mourning
his passing today.
Senator Moynihan was one of our truly inspiring legislators. He was a
scholar, a legislator, an ambassador, a cabinet officer, a Presidential
adviser in four administrations, the only person in history to serve
four consecutive administrations. He was a teacher, a writer, and one
of the best Senators
[[Page H2361]]
ever to grace the halls of this institution.
He was unmatched in his ability to craft innovative solutions to
society's most pressing problems, from welfare to Social Security, to
transportation, to taxes. His legislative stamp is everywhere.
Known as, and I quote from the Almanac of American Politics, "the
Nation's best thinker among politicians since Lincoln, and its best
politician among thinkers since Jefferson," Senator Moynihan moved
people through the power of his ideas. He was a unique figure in public
life, a man of pure intellect, who was unafraid of speaking
inconvenient truths.
Senator Moynihan's life exemplified the American dream. He grew up in
a slum known as Hell's Kitchen. Abandoned by his father, his mother
became the sole supporter of the family during the Depression. Small
wonder that Senator Moynihan grew up to be a strong voice on welfare
issues. He recognized the danger of fostering a culture of dependency,
while understanding the importance of maintaining a strong safety net.
He proved to be one of the most accurate prophets of our era. Time
and time again he correctly predicted future consequences, even though
many refused to believe him when his prediction ran counter to
conventional wisdom. In the 1980s, he predicted the coming collapse of
the Soviet Union. In the 1990s, he expressed concern about the tendency
of our society to define deviancy down.
For New Yorkers, Senator Moynihan has and always will be one of our
own homegrown heroes, our proud gift to the Nation. Despite his
reputation for attention to the more scholarly pursuits, he authored 18
books, Senator Moynihan never forgot those of us who elected him.
He was a hero to landmark preservationists for his effort to preserve
the Custom House and the Farley Post Office, the new train station on
the Farley site, which he helped plan and which he helped to fund, but
it does not yet have a name. I believe that it should be named for
Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
When the Coast Guard left Governors Island, he persuaded President
Clinton to agree to give the island to New York for $1, and it was this
Congress that was able to make that pledge a reality. As ambassador to
the United Nations, he denounced the resolution equating Zionism with
racism. Seventeen years later, the U.N. reversed itself, revoking this
shameful resolution.
Senator Moynihan was a prime mover behind ISTEA, which changed the
way highway and transportation funds are distributed. He was widely
credited with shifting transportation priorities and making it possible
for us to invest in alternatives, like high-speed rail.
As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, he was a guardian of
Social Security; and he focused his attention on the importance of
opening up government filings and reducing secrecy in government. I was
proud to have worked with him on the passage of the Nazi War Crimes
Disclosure bill. After 50 years, Americans finally are beginning to get
a glimpse of the things that our government knew.
Senator Moynihan was also a tireless worker on getting an accurate
census for our country.
Senator Moynihan's passing will make this country a poorer place. I
join my constituents and my colleagues in paying tribute to the great
Senator from the Great State of New York.
Senator Moynihan was truly an American treasure. He was a great
friend and mentor to me, and we will miss him greatly. My colleagues
and I send to Elizabeth and their family our deep concern and
condolences.
Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record a biography of this remarkable
man.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan was the senior United States Senator from New
York. First elected in 1976, Senator Moynihan was re-elected in 1982,
1988, and 1994.
Senator Moynihan was the Ranking Minority Member of the Senate
Committee on Finance. He served on the Senate Committee on Environment
and Public Works and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.
He also was a member of the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Joint
Committee on the Library of Congress.
A member of the Cabinet or sub-Cabinet of Presidents Kennedy,
Johnson, Nixon and Ford, Senator Moynihan was the only person in
American history to serve in four successive administrations. He was
U.S. Ambassador to India from 1973 to 1975 and U.S. Representative to
the United Nations from 1975 to 1976. In February 1976 he represented
the United States as President of the United Nations Security Council.
Senator Moynihan was born on March 17, 1927. He attended public and
parochial schools in New York City and graduated from Benjamin Franklin
High School in East Harlem. He went on to attend the City College of
New York for one year before enlisting in the United States Navy. He
served on active duty from 1944 to 1947. In 1966, he completed twenty
years in the Naval Reserve and was retired. Senator Moynihan earned his
bachelor's degree (cum laude) from Tufts University, studied at the
London School of Economics as a Fulbright Scholar, and received his
M.A. and Ph.D. from Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy.
Senator Moynihan was a member of Averell Harriman's gubernatorial
campaign staff in 1954 and then served on Gov. Harriman's staff in
Albany until 1958. He was an alternate Kennedy delegate at the 1960
Democratic Convention. Beginning in 1961, he served in the U.S.
Department of Labor as an assistant to the Secretary, and later as
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Policy Planning and Research.
In 1966, Senator Moynihan became Director of the Joint Center for
Urban Studies at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. He has been a Professor of Government at Harvard
University, Assistant Professor of Government at Syracuse University, a
fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies at Wesleyan University, and
has taught in the extension programs of Russell Sage College and the
Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Senator
Moynihan is the recipient of 62 honorary degrees.
Senator Moynihan was the author or editor of 18 books. His most
recent work is Secrecy: The American Experience, published in the fall
of 1998, an expansion of the report by the Commission on Protecting and
Reducing Government Secrecy. Senator Moynihan, as Chairman of the
Commission, led the first comprehensive review in forty years of the
Federal Government's system of classifying and declassifying
information and granting clearances.
Since 1976 Senator Moynihan has published an analysis of the flow of
funds between the Federal Government and New York State. In 1992 the
analysis became a joint publication with the Taubman Center for State
and Local Government at Harvard University, and includes all fifty
states.
Senator Moynihan was a fellow of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS). He was Chairman of the AAAS's section on
Social, Economic and Political Science (1971-72) and a member of the
Board of Directors (1972-73). He also served as a member of the
President's Science Advisory Committee (1971-73). Senator Moynihan was
Vice Chairman (1971-76) of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for
Scholars. He served on the National Commission on Social Security
Reform (1982-83) whose recommendations formed the basis of legislation
to assure the system's fiscal stability.
He was the founding Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (1971-85) and served as Regent of
the Smithsonian Institution, having been appointed in 1987 and again in
1995. In 1985, the Smithsonian awarded him its Joseph Henry Medal.
In 1965, Senator Moynihan received the Arthur S. Flemming Awards,
which recognizes outstanding young Federal employees, for his work as
"an architect of the Nation's program to eradicate poverty." He has
also received the International League of Human Rights Award (1975) and
the John LaFarge Award for Interracial Justice (1980). In 1983, he was
the first recipient of the American Political Science Association's
Hubert H. Humphrey Award for "notable public service by a political
scientist." In 1984, Senator Moynihan received the State University of
New York at Albany's Medallion of the University in recognition of his
"extraordinary public service and leadership in the field for
education." In 1986, he received the Seal Medallion of the Central
Intelligence Agency and the Britannica Medal for the Dissemination of
Learning.
He has also received the Laetare Medal of the University of Notre
Dame (1992), the Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture from
the American Institute of Architects (1992), and the Thomas Jefferson
Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts or Humanities from the
American Philosophical Society (1993). In 1994, he received the Gold
Medal Award "honoring services to humanity" from the National
Institute of Social Sciences.
[[Page H2362]]
In 1997, the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University
awarded Senator Moynihan the Cartwright Prize. He was the 1998
recipient of the Heinz Award in Public Policy "for having been a
distinct and unique voice in the century--independent in his
convictions, a scholar, teacher, statesman and politician, skilled in
the art of the possible."
Elizabeth Brennan Moynihan, his wife of 44 years, is an architectural
historian with a special interest in 16th century Mughal architecture
in India. She is the author of Paradise as a Garden: In Persia and
Mughal India (1979) and numerous articles. Mrs. Moynihan is a former
Chairman of the Board of the American Schools of Oriental Research. She
serves as a member of the Indo-U.S. Subcommission on Education and
Culture, and the visiting committee of the Freer Gallery of Art at the
Smithsonian Institution. She is Vice Chair of the Board of the National
Building Museum, and on the Trustees Council of the Preservation League
of New York State.
