April 3, 1998

Mr. President, several days ago, our colleague in the other body, Representative Joseph P. Kennedy II, announced his retirement after 12 years of service. Representative Kennedy has been a tremendous advocate on behalf of the nation's working families, and I want to take this opportunity to say a few words about my friend from Massachusetts.

Joe Kennedy has brought an uncommon enthusiasm and an intensity to his work here in the Congress. As a member of the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, he mastered the arcane details of banking, insurance, securities, and housing law to achieve great success in reforming our nation's financial institutions to be more responsive to the needs of working families.

In 1989, he authored amendments to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and the Community Reinvestment Act. These amendments have been responsible for leveraging hundreds of millions of dollars in credit to help people of modest means purchase a home.

As the Chairman of the former Subcommittee on Consumer Credit and Insurance, he worked on legislation to reform the Fair Credit Reporting Act, so that consumers will be better protected from unwarranted uses of their most private financial information and will have a greater ability to safeguard the confidentiality and accuracy of that information.

More recently, as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, he has continued to champion affordable housing for the elderly and others on fixed incomes. Thanks to his efforts, many more Americans own a home and have a decent, affordable place to live.

Congressman Kennedy has distinguished himself in other ways, as well. He has been a consistent and articulate voice for peace and justice in places like Northern Ireland, Haiti, and the Mexican state of Chiapas. He has been a staunch supporter of civil rights for women, the disabled, and minorities. He has also worked hard to balance our nation's budget without compromising our commitment to protect our most vulnerable citizens.

Prior to his election to the House, Congressman Kennedy built a successful company that provides low-cost heating oil and other services to low and moderate income Americans. It is to that company that he will soon return.

I have no doubt that although he is leaving public office, Joe Kennedy will continue to serve the public interest. I know I speak for many of my colleagues in wishing him and his family well in this new endeavor, and in saying that, we in the Congress will miss his vitality and vision of a more just and prosperous America.