H 5384 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE May 23, 1995

dedicated, to the ideal of public service. Anyone who knew him knew that

he put public service ahead of personal

life. He gave it everything he had, and

he is now gone.

Mr. NEUMANN and I will announce at

a later date when special orders will be

held for Les, but on behalf of the Aspin

family and his friends and staff, I want

to make certain that Members understand what the information is regarding his funeral and memorial services.

Visitation hours will be held on

Thursday, May 25, at the SchmidtBartelt Funeral Home at 10280 North

Port Washington Road in Mequon, WI.

Family and friends are invited to attend from 1 to 4 p.m. The public is invited to attend from 6 to 9 p.m.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, May 26, at 10 a.m. at Gesu Church,

Marquette University, in Milwaukee. I

have been asked to say that the family

would very much welcome any Members who might like to attend those

services.

At this point, as I understand it,

transportation arrangements have not

yet exactly been finalized, but it is expected that a plane will be provided by

the Pentagon for a significant number

of Members. If Members are interested

in attending, please call my office and

we will try to help facilitate that.

A memorial service will be held in

Washington, DC, probably in the Capitol, around June 7. That is not exactly

tied down, but we expect it to be on

that date. Details will be made available as soon as possible. The family advises that in lieu of flowers, donations

may be made in Les Aspin’s name to

one of the following charities: Countryside Humane Society, Racine, WI, Wisconsin Public Radio, or Georgetown

Cardiology Research Fund, care of Dr.

David Pearle, Georgetown University

Medical Center.

Written expressions of sympathy to

family and friends may be sent in care

of the President’s Foreign Intelligence

Advisory Board, room 340, Old Executive Office Building, the White House,

Washington, DC.

Mr. Speaker, with the Speaker’s sufferance on time, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. NEUMANN]

who, as we all know, is now occupying

the seat once held by our good friend,

Les Aspin.

Mr. NEUMANN. Mr. Speaker, it is

with much sadness that my wife and I

received the news of Les Aspin’s condition, and then later, of his death. Everyone who served in this body while

Les was here understands the legacy he

has left here in Washington. His unflinching commitment to the defense of

this Nation is legendary, but today,

very briefly I would like to make a few

comments about the legacy he has left

in Wisconsin, where I am fortunate

enough to serve the district Les Aspin

represented for 22 years.

Les was born in 1938, in the city of

Milwaukee. In 1956 he graduated from

Shorewood High School. In 1960, he

graduated summa cum laude from Yale

University. In 1962, he received his

master’s from Oxford, and in 1965, his

Ph.D. from MIT.

He was originally elected to Wisconsin’s First District in 1970. He spend

the next 22 years working on behalf of

his constituents, with a tireless effort

that is still a standard my office works

to meet. Les was a professor, but he

had the ability to relate to people. He

was brilliant, but he was not arrogant.

Serving his constituents and his Nation was his life’s passion. Keeping this

Nation safe and free for our children

and our grandchildren in his legacy. He

will be remembered and honored by all

he served.

On this very sad occasion of his passing, let us pause and reflect on Les

Aspin, a man dedicated to public service and committed to keeping this Nation free. He will be sorely missed by

all.

Mr. OBEY. I thank the gentleman,

Mr. Speaker, and I yield to the gentleman from Milwaukee, WI [Mr.

BARRETT].

Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin. Mr.

Speaker, I also want to pay tribute to

Les Aspin. Those of us who have the

tremendous honor of serving in this

great institution sometimes fail to see

the giants that serve among us. Certainly Les Aspin was a giant who

served among us.

I am proud to say that he was born in

Milwaukee and graduated from

Shorewood High School, and he was a

man who was clearly a leader, not only

of the people of the State of Wisconsin,

of the district that he represented in

the southeastern part of Wisconsin, but

of this entire Nation.

He was a man, as Mr. OBEY indicated,

who gave his heart, literally, to this

country. He poured hours after hours

after hours into trying to grapple with

the important issues we face as a Nation, and he did it because he loved this

country. He was truly a public servant

who cared about the people in the

State of Wisconsin, and cared about

the people in this great country.

It is rare that we see people in this

institution who work as hard as Les

Aspin did. He gave hour after hour for

the people that he loved. However, in

doing so, he was always able to retain

his touch of the common man. As much

as he accomplished academically and

through the higher ranks of government in this country, he never lost the

ability to relate to people on a day-today level. To me he will always be Les,

the fellow who would put his arm

around you, smile and joke, and ask

how things were going. He was a man

who cared about you as an individual

and cared about people as people.

In this morning’s paper there was a

short paragraph that described probably the best the way we can think of

Les, as we remember him.

He loved high-powered debates with intellectuals, but he never put on airs. He could

talk to farmers and mechanics as easily as

the Presidents and potentates. It is no wonder the voters of southeastern Wisconsin

kept Aspin in Congress for 22 years. They

knew a good man when they say him. They,

and all Americans, have lost someone special.

(Mrs. SEASTRAND asked given perFOREIGN AID

fmission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. SEASTRAND. Mr. Speaker, the

folks back home on my central coast of

California understand the need to balance our budget. What they do not understand is how the United States can

trim waste inside our borders, but continue to send money to foreign countries that do not support our Republic.

The American Overseas Interests Act

begins as an interesting debate over

our spending priorities. It will begin to

make foreign aid less costly, less intrusive, and most importantly, smaller, by

eliminating three foreign aid bureaucracies, and saving taxpayers $21 billion

over the next 7 years.

If there is one thing I have learned,

we do not reward those who work

against us. Yet, that is exactly what

we are doing as a country. No more. To

those countries that vote against the

United States in the United Nations,

support terrorist countries, or spy on

the United States, they will not receive

money from hardworking American

taxpayers.

Mr. Speaker, as we downsize the Federal bureaucracy and strive toward a

balanced Federal budget in the year

2002, all areas of spending must be examined. This includes foreign aid.

(Mr. BALDACCI asked and was given

MISPLACED PRIORITIES

fpermission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BALDACCI. Mr. Speaker, I received a poignant letter recently from

a woman in Maine. She goes to college,

relying on financial assistance to do so.

She is also raising a 4-year-old son,

whose father has a restraining order

against him and does not contribute financially. She works nights as a waitress to pay the family’s bills.

She writes:

Some might say I do not need an education, since I’m managing to stay off public

assistance, but there are more issues involved here than that. If I have to continue

working in the evening once Isaiah is in

school, I will not be there to help him with

his homework or talk with him about any

problems he may be having.

She continues:

I truly believe that education for more

than just the wealthy is what will make our

country the great nation we all want it to

be. To deny even the hope of a better life to

our nation’s young people can only lead us

all into disaster and despair.* * * Through

accessible education, we can lift up all of our

people, not just the fortunate few.

Mr. Speaker, I could not have said it

better myself. Our majority colleagues

should reevaluate their priorities, and