May 16, 1996 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð SENATE S5187 center where he monitored intelligence once she sets her sights on something tion have been acknowledged and ad- reports and oversaw the American re- she makes sure it happens. dressed. The key to our overcoming sponse. I was so impressed with his There being no objection, the article and addressing discrimination has been courage and professionalism. I saw first was ordered to be printed in the education and understanding. hand that our Navy was in good hands. RECORD, as follows: The most recent debate over the FDR Admiral Boorda was the first sailor [From the Burlington Free Press, May 12, Memorial is an opportunity for our to rise through the ranks from enlisted 1996] country to once again beat back dis- sailor to four star admiral. Going from ONE TRINITY GRAD MAGNA CUM LATELY crimination. Discrimination is not al- seaman to Chief of Naval Operations (By Tamara Lush) ways blatant. Discrimination also in- was an extraordinary accomplishment It took starting a business, raising a fam- cludes exclusion. that served as an inspiration for young ily and the death of his wife before Bernard I strongly believe that portraying sailors in the fleet. ``Buddy'' Zais decided to return to college. FDR in a wheelchair in one of the three He learned a lot along the way. He Now, after 63 years, Zais has finally gotten statues that are being built as part of cared about the welfare of every man his college degree. the memorial would be an incredibly and woman in our Armed Forces and he The 80-year-old Zais was one of 203 Trinity powerful statement to all who visit cared deeply about the United States College graduates Saturday at the school's this tribute to a great, vibrant, forceful Navy. 71st commencement ceremony. Zais received leader. The fact that FDR had polio We have all heard stories about how his bachelor of arts degree in philosophy, and and spent most of his waking hours as after the ceremony, had a few wise words of he cut through redtape to help improve his own. President working in his wheelchair the lives of individual sailors. I remem- ``I figured before I check out, I ought to does not change any of these truths. In ber one story in particular. A young have a college degree,'' said Zais, pausing to fact, FDR's disability was a great sailor said he needed to be reassigned hug other graduates old enough to be his source of his strength. so that his child could receive proper great-grandchildren. A main tenet of the Americans with medical care. Admiral Boorda saw that As ZaisÐthe oldest person to graduate Disabilities Act of 1990 was to ensure it was done immediately. from TrinityÐwas handed his diploma, he re- that the Federal Government plays a He also cared deeply about the honor ceived a standing ovation from the hundreds central role in enforcing the standards of people who attended the ceremony at the and integrity of the United States Patrick Gymnasium. established in the act on behalf of indi- Navy. Perhaps more than anyone else, Zais said he was prodded into going back viduals with disabilities. he helped the Navy to changeÐto pro- to school by Trinity College President Sister In this effort, I hope that the FDR vide real opportunity and dignity for Janice Ryan, who marked her final com- Memorial Commission will depict women and minorities. I worked close- mencement speech Saturday, following 17 President Roosevelt as he wasÐa great, ly with him after the Tailhook scandal years as the college's top administrator. courageous man who had polio and still shook the Navy. He made sure that Ryan is stepping down from her post this led our Nation. there wasn't a whitewash or a witch summer. I ask unanimous consent that an edi- Shortly after his wife Mary died in 1992, torial from the New York Times and a hunt. He displayed the kind of honor Ryan asked Zais how he and his family were that is a model for all of us. doing. Zais reported his two grandchildren letter from eight of FDR's grand- Admiral Boorda's death is a tragedy. had just gotten their college degrees. ``That children to Michael Deland and Alan But his life was a triumph. His con- means that all three of my grandchildren, Reich of the National Organization on tributions to our Nation will live on and my two children, and Mary, had a de- Disability be printed in the RECORD. forever. gree, and I was the only one in the family There being no objection, the mate- f without one,'' he said. rial was ordered to be printed in the So Ryan asked Zais to apply to the school, RECORD, as follows: BUDDY ZAIS and even had an admissions counselor con- [From the New York Times, May 12, 1996] Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, we all tact him. Zais, who formed a company called Health THE AIRBRUSH OF POWER know the adage, that one is never too Insurance of Vermont and had been an insur- Most Americans are aware, if sometimes old to learn. I would like to call atten- ance agent his entire working life, decided to vaguely, that Franklin Roosevelt was strick- tion to a very special Vermonter, study philosophy with a concentration on en by polio in 1921 and was unable thereafter Buddy Zais, who embodies this truism. the Greek philosophers. to stand unassisted. Yet there will be no vis- Last Saturday, May 11, Buddy was He received credit for the one year he had ual reminder of this fact in the F.D.R. me- one of the 203 students to graduate gone to collegeÐin 1933, he went to Boston morial due to be dedicated in Washington from Trinity College of Vermont. What University and studied journalism. next spring. On the contrary, he is to be shown standing tall in one of three sculp- makes Buddy stand out in this crowd is Going back to school and spending time with young people was one of Zais' best life tures planned for the seven-acre site on the that he is receiving his bachelor of arts experiences. ``It was the most satisfying, banks of the Potomac. degree in philosophy 63 years after at- gratifying experience of my life, other than This fiction, however benign, is being pro- tending his first year of college at Bos- raising my family,'' he said. ``It was much tested by the National Organization on Dis- ton University. important than my business life, much more ability, whose chairman, Michael Deland, At the age of 80 years old, Buddy is important than selling insurance.'' urges that at least one bronze image depict the oldest person ever to graduate from And Zais, who graduate magna cum laude, F.D.R. as he often was, in a wheelchair. isn't going to stop at one degree. Logic and sentiment support Mr. Deland. Trinity College. In true form, Buddy But alas, the leaden weight of tradition graduated with magna cum laude hon- He is considering attending school for his master's and possibly his doctorate in philos- stands all too squarely behind the memorial ors. Now that he has his bachelors de- ophy. To do that, he said, he might have to commission's penchant for make-believe. gree behind him, he is looking ahead to go out of state because no Vermont school Through the ages, rulers of every stripe, the next challenge he will undertake. I offers those degrees in philosophy. ``I'll have male and female, have sought to improve wish Buddy much luck in his next en- to go to Albany, Boston or McGill Univer- upon or alter nature. The Egyptians led the deavor. I've been his friend for over 30 sity,'' he said. ``Will I do it? Probably.'' way. Ramses II was not content to show him- self mowing down adversaries in scores of years and I'm so proud of him. f battle friezes. His artists had to depict him I ask unanimous consent that an ar- THE FDR MEMORIAL twice as big as everyone else. Going further, ticle from The Burlington Free Press Queen Hatshepsut, the first great female celebrating Buddy's graduation be Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, thou- ruler known to history, had herself rep- printed in the RECORD. sands of people come to Washington, licated in stone with a false beard, thus vis- On a final note, I must add that it DC, each year to learn about the his- ually changing her sex. comes as no surprise to me that Sister tory of our country and the legacy left Roman emperors and their wives were Janice Ryan, the president of Trinity to us by the great men and women that tidied up in marble and bronze, their faces College of Vermont, was one of the have built the strongest, most powerful deftly nipped and tucked on imperial coins. European rulers in the Middle Ages invoked forces behind getting Buddy started nation the world has ever knownÐthe theology to justify the lies of art. Every back on his degree. Sister Janice has United States of America. monarch, it was said, is at once mortal and been a good friend for many years. Our country's finest hours have been incorporeal, so that in a higher realm all Buddy and I know only too well that ones where prejudice and discrimina- were immune to the blemishes of the flesh. S5188 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð SENATE May 16, 1996 On their death, an image was carved delin- others.