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[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 70 (Monday, May 1, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5864-S5865]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                 MEMORIES OF EXPERIENCES ``BACK WHEN''

  Mr. PRESSLER. Mr. President, April's Commerce Department magazine 
contains an article entitled ``Commerce Officials Knew Two Congressmen 
`Back When'.'' As it happens, I am one of the Congressmen.
  ``Back then'' was Vietnam during the war when Paul London, now Deputy 
Under Secretary for Economic Affairs at the Department of Commerce, was 
in charge of a State Department unit involved with economic affairs and 
I 
[[Page S5865]] was a young Army lieutenant assigned to the unit. In the 
article, Paul reflects on a small research project I conducted for him 
involving the cost of fish in Saigon. It just goes to show that we 
never really escape the actions we take in this life.
  At any rate, Mr. President, the piece brought back a great many 
memories and I am flattered Paul remembered such a small incident after 
all these years. I ask unanimous consent that the article be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

         Commerce Officials Knew Two Congressmen ``Back When''

       OLIA some time ago surveyed senior Commerce officials to 
     determine if any had ever had any particularly memorable 
     personal contacts with members of Congress. At least two of 
     them most certainly had. One of our Commerce people had a 
     hand in saving a Congressman's life. Another was a Senator's 
     boss while both were young men serving in Vietnam.
       Larry Irving, assistant secretary for communications and 
     information, was a member of a delegation visiting Russia 
     when Rep. Dana Rhorabacher, R-Calif., became quite ill. 
     Irving administered some first aid procedures which helped 
     bring him through the crisis.
       Paul London, deputy under secretary, was a State Department 
     aide seconded to the Agency for International Development 
     when he first knew Larry Pressler, now a Republican Senator 
     from South Dakota.
       London recalls:
       ``I was head of a unit concerned with economic affairs and 
     Larry was a young Army lieutenant assigned to us.
       ``One time, there were reports that the price of fish (a 
     dietary staple in South Vietnam) might skyrocket because the 
     Viet Cong were threatening to cut a coastal highway to 
     Saigon. I had a feeling that most fish supplies to Saigon 
     came from the Mekong Delta, rather than from the coast and I 
     asked Larry to check it out.
       ``A couple of days later he reported that my surmise was 
     exactly right. `Far and away more fish on the Saigon market 
     come from the Delta than from coastal fishing boats,' he 
     reported.
       ```How did you verify that,' I asked.
       ```I got up before dawn, went down to the market and asked 
     the people there where the fish were coming from,' he said.
       ``Right then, I thought: `This guy is going to go places. 
     He does things personally, doesn't depend on paper shuffling 
     or second hand information to get to the heart of 
     something.'''
       The two have retained a cordial relationship ever since.
       

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