May 9, 1997 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S4287 from Maryland [Ms. MIKULSKI] were this past year and who is unable to sell The Age of Kempton is over. Budding added as cosponsors of S. 713, a bill to her home to make ends meet because writers would do well to re-read and amend the Federal Food, Drug, and she would be required to give the Gov- emulate his work; public figures con- Cosmetic Act to allow for additional ernment 40 percent of the proceeds of tinue to thank and rue the day deferred effective dates for approval of the sale in capital gains tax. Ms. Linda Kempton chose them to be subject of applications under the new drugs provi- Blasengame has this message for all of his column; and for we who knew him, sions, and for other purposes. us here in Congress: only sorrow bursts through the cracks f I have lost so much and have always in our hearts today. fought back but I can’t imagine the pain of I ask that the following articles TAX FREEDOM DAY having to lose my dignity too. Please, look about be printed in ∑ Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, today is inside your heart and help me and so many the RECORD at the conclusion of my re- National Tax Freedom Day—the day others that are in my shoes. . . . I don’t need marks. when families around the country fi- a handout, I need your help. [From the New York Post, May 9, 1997] nally start working for themselves and Congress must heed the cries for help KEMPTON’S FUNERAL ISA LESSON IN not for the Government. For families from people like Ms. Blasengame and SIMPLICITY in my home State of Washington, how- we must respond to the outrage of peo- (By Christopher Francescani) ever, Tax Freedom Day does not come ple like Ms. Dursh. The American peo- Even in death, Murray Kempton’s disarm- until May 14. In Washington State, ple are slowly losing patience with our ing humility ruled the day. families must work 5 additional days bandaid approaches. Americans over- There were no eulogies at the legendary before the income they earn can go to whelming want a fairer and simpler tax ’s simple Upper West Side funeral system. They deserve this and they are yesterday, although hundreds of the city’s meet their own needs and not the Gov- greatest literary, political and newspaper ernment’s. relying on us to work toward this end.∑ voices were on hand. The residents of Washington State f There were no limousines, although will bear the Nation’s fifth highest tax Kempton was considered royalty among the MURRAY KEMPTON burden in 1997 with each man, woman, city’s press corps. and child of the State owing $6,572 in ∑ Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, on And there were no gaudy floral tributes, Federal taxes. Add this with State and Monday of last week, Murray Kempton only small bursts of potted cherry blossoms, died. With his passing, we mark the Casablanca lilies and white azaleas perched local taxes and each Washington citi- unassumingly on the altar. zen will owe $9,881 or almost 37 percent end of a legend in New York, and in But the -winning columnist, of the average, annual income to sup- American journalism. Kempton was who sounded off for decades on every aspect port the Government . the kindest man and toughest reporter of the city he loved, was remembered—and It is no wonder today’s families are we have known in our time. A certain remembered well. feeling squeezed. It is no wonder more incandescent sweetness now departs. ‘‘The funeral was pure Murray,’’ Post col- umnist Jack Newfield said. ‘‘His manner, his and more families must rely on dual in- Yet his memory and, yes, his legacy re- main. grace, his kindliness, his humility beyond comes and parents must work longer self-effacement. He was the benchmark.’’ and longer hours. Families are paying The Daily News’ columnist Sidney Kempton, 79, whose gentle elegance and more in taxes today than ever. They Zion captured Kempton’s unique abil- amusing eccentricities won him the respect are now spending more just on taxes ity and thus legacy when Zion wrote: of virtually all of his ‘‘fellow workers,’’ died then they do on food, clothing, shelter, ‘‘Kempton used his power to condemn, Monday at a nursing home. and transportation combined. but loved his right to absolve. And In a note written in 1989, entitled, ‘‘My Fu- neral,’’ he’d requested a brief ceremony with This is not fairness. It is robbery. when he absolved the sinner, he owned the territory.’’ no eulogies. His body was cremated earlier Clearly, it is time for Congress to se- this week. riously reexamine our current tax sys- This was Kempton’s singular power. ‘‘He chose a simple ceremony in the classic tem. As Betty Dursh from Spokane, With characteristic flair, Kempton Anglican manner, which focuses on God’s WA, stated in her recent letter to me: would challenge corruption with vorac- love and the equality of all persons in the It is past time to reform the Tax Code. We ity. Then instead of reveling in victory, face of death,’’ said the Rev. Gaylord Hitch- are now in our fifth year, hear this, our fifth would show compassion for the humans cock of the Church of St. Ignatius of Anti- year, of working almost half the year before beneath the deeds and absolve the sins och. ‘‘His [funeral] runs against the grain of the taxes are paid. That is unconscionable! It of some of the greatest losers in New most American funerals, where the Mass is wrong! York’s history. Carmine DeSapio, turns into a celebration of the person.’’ Yes, Ms. Dursh, it is wrong and it is , Carmine Persico, Roy Cohn. Kempton, known among his colleagues as far past the time for Congress to begin Such was the power of the words which much for his intricate sentence structure as the work of reforming our tax system. Kempton wielded. for riding his three-speed bicycle to news The budget agreement announced by When the reformers in the City had events—jazz humming through his head- the President and Congress 1 week ago finally overcome DeSapio, one of the phones—spent most of his 55-year career at the New York Post and . today gives me hope—hope that we can great Tammany bosses, Kempton The -born scribe, who once ran finally begin to put our fiscal house in wrote, as only he could: ‘‘The age of copy for H.L. Mencken, won a Pulitzer for order and provide some tax relief for Pericles had begun because we were rid commentary in 1985. the American people. If our efforts are of Carmine DeSapio. One had to walk The pews of the tiny Gothic-style church successful this summer and we are able carefully to avoid being stabbed by the where Kempton worshiped for decades were to begin the job of reforming some of lilies bursting in the pavements. I wish filled to capacity 30 minutes before the cere- mony began. our most oppressive taxes it will be a the reformers luck—with less Christian William F. Buckley Jr. and Mayor Giuliani good step. But it will only be the first, sincerity than Carmine DeSapio does. I pressed their way through the crowd. Writer small step in the direction of the real will be a long time forgiving them on Nora Ephron sat pensively in a rear pew as reform we need—reform that will, at this one.’’ Kempton felt sympathy and the church bell rang out 79 times, once for last, provide us with a tax system that respect even for the rogue. He stood up each year of Kempton’s life. respects the right of American’s to for the loser whether it was Carmine Columnist , Post editor Ken keep their earnings and investments. DeSapio, a deposed dictator, or a Chandler, Daily News editor , writers Kurt Vonnegut, Phillip Roth and This will require much more than one shunned local New Yorker. Calvin Trillin, and cartoonist Jules Feiffer or two changes to the volumes of provi- J. Edgar Hoover once called Mr. were there—as were former Mayor David sions in the Tax Code, however. It will Kempton a snake and a rat. From one Dinkins, Manhattan Borough President Ruth require a complete examination and, who was once referred to by Mr. Hoover Messinger and hosts of other dignitaries. eventually, overhaul of the entire sys- as a skunk, I take pride in knowing Off to the side of the altar, a choir clad in tem. that my work was seen in the same black sung hymns softly in Latin. I want to leave my colleagues with light as Kempton’s. But I fear no one Some of Kempton’s favorite passages from the Bible took the place of speeches. one final thought—the words of a 52- else has what Instead, eulogies were whispered between year-old woman from Marysville, WA called, ‘‘[Kempton’s] skeptical sym- pews and among the crowd of mourners out- who lost both her husband and her job pathy’’ required to continue his work. side the chapel.