William Proxmire, Maverick Democratic Senator from Wisconsin, Is Dead at 90 - New York Times 12/18/2005 11:44 PM

William Proxmire, Maverick Democratic Senator From Wisconsin, Is Dead at 90 - New York Times 12/18/2005 11:44 PM

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William Proxmire, Maverick Advertisement Democratic Senator From Wisconsin, Is Dead at 90

By RICHARD SEVERO Published: December 16, 2005 Sign In to E-Mail This Printer-Friendly William Proxmire, a political maverick Single-Page during 32 years in the Senate who Reprints crusaded against government waste Save Article and irritated presidents and lawmakers from both parties because of his contempt for the mutual back-scratching most politicians engage in, died yesterday in Sykesville, Md., about 40 miles from Washington. He was 90.

Enlarge This Image He died at the Copper Ridge Nursing Home, said Mindy Past 24 Hours | Past 7 Days Brandt, a spokeswoman for 1. Editorial: This Call May Be Monitored ... the home. Ms. Brandt said 2. Economic View: Health Care for All, Just a (Big) Step Away she could provide no further 3. The Restless Children of the Dalai Lama details. 4. Nicholas D. Kristof: A Challenge for Bill O'Reilly 5. Frank Rich: Two Gay Cowboys Hit a Home Run Mr. Proxmire had Alzheimer's disease and had Go to Complete List been out of the spotlight for more than a decade. He left the Senate in 1989.

Associated Press On Aug. 29, 1957, the day that he A Democrat from nytimes.com/travel joined the Senate, William Wisconsin, he was chairman Proxmire, second from right, met of the Banking Committee with, from left, Senators John F. and was involved in many Kennedy, George Smathers, important legislative battles, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/national/16proxmire.html Page 1 of 4 William Proxmire, Maverick Democratic Senator From Wisconsin, Is Dead at 90 - New York Times 12/18/2005 11:44 PM

Kennedy, George Smathers, Hubert H. Humphrey and Lyndon important legislative battles, B. Johnson. most notably successful drives to win Senate

approval of a treaty Where did stars vacation in the 1950's? outlawing genocide and rejection of money for a Also in Travel: Where did John Wayne supposedly keep a cow on his balcony? supersonic transport plane. Where can you see Marilyn Monroe's red stilettos? Where did Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner stay in Cuba? But he was best known for his Golden Fleece Awards, which he announced in ADVERTISEMENTS

monthly press releases to $499 Dell™ Home Notebook! call attention to what he $499 Dell™ Home Notebook after instant believed to be frivolous savings. www.dell4me.com government spending. An CA™ award, for instance, went to Learn how CA™ can help unify and the National Science simplify your IT environment. www.ca.com Foundation in 1975 for spending $84,000 to learn Panasonic PT-LB Projectors With Daylight View technology bring why people fall in love. presentations to light. George Tames/The New York Times, www.panasonic.com 1978 Mr. Proxmire is also American Express Senator William Proxmire was Apply today for the Business Gold Card known for jogging to the Capitol. remembered for his regimen of daily exercise (in his prime, he jogged nearly 10 miles a day), his spartan diet, his hair transplants and face Forever Fab commemorative lift, his refusal to accept campaign donations or newspaper reimbursements for travel expenses and his string of not missing roll-call votes, which lasted more than 20 years.

Mr. Proxmire was first elected to the Senate in 1957 to fill the unexpired term of the late Joseph R. McCarthy, the Republican who was censured for reckless attacks on those he accused of being communists or fellow travelers. Although he spent only a few hundred dollars on his campaigns, all of it out of his own pocket, Mr. Proxmire was easily re-elected five times.

His Golden Fleece Award, to gain publicity for his crusade against wasteful spending, became "as much a part of the Senate as quorum calls and filibusters," said Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, the Democratic leader during part of Mr. Proxmire's career.

Speaking of the National Science Foundation's grant on falling in love, Mr. Proxmire said such a study was better http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/national/16proxmire.html Page 2 of 4 William Proxmire, Maverick Democratic Senator From Wisconsin, Is Dead at 90 - New York Times 12/18/2005 11:44 PM

falling in love, Mr. Proxmire said such a study was better left to "poets and mystics, to Irving Berlin, to thousands of high school and college bull sessions."

Another Golden Fleece Award went to the National Institute for Mental Health, which spent $97,000 to study, among other things, what went on in a Peruvian brothel. The researchers said they made repeated visits in the interests of accuracy.

The Federal Aviation Administration also felt Mr. Proxmire's wrath, for spending $57,800 on a study of the physical measurements of 432 airline stewardesses, paying special attention to the "length of the buttocks" and how their knees were arranged when they were seated. Other Fleece recipients were the Justice Department, for spending $27,000 to determine why prisoners wanted to get out of jail, and the Pentagon, for a $3,000 study to determine if people in the military should carry umbrellas in the rain.

When Mr. Proxmire set his mind to a task, he rarely relented until it was accomplished. For 19 years, he gave a speech on the floor nearly every morning the Senate was in session on behalf of the genocide treaty, more than 3,000 speeches in all. Finally, in 1986, the treaty was approved.

On the Banking Committee, he was tireless in pursuit of laws requiring lenders and credit card companies to disclose true lending rates and legislation enabling consumers to determine their credit ratings. He also pushed for more competition in financial services.

His penny-pinching was the bane not just of defense contractors but also of fellow senators, whose raises and large campaign funds he regularly opposed. Many of his colleagues thought he was a self-centered grandstander.

Generally, he was a liberal, and he was a fierce opponent of the war in Vietnam, but he never toed the party line.

In 1982, a convention of feminists booed him because he had voted against liberalizing abortion rights. Democrats were also upset when he voted to approve the conservative William H. Rehnquist as chief justice of the Supreme Court.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/national/16proxmire.html Page 3 of 4 William Proxmire, Maverick Democratic Senator From Wisconsin, Is Dead at 90 - New York Times 12/18/2005 11:44 PM

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