Congressional Record—Senate S2955

February 22, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2955 THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF could sense the power of his commitment to on many issues, including crime and gun WALTER SHERIDAN justice and honesty in public and private control. He liked to tell of the time he went life. You knew he would go to the end of the into a gun shop, plunked down a couple hun- Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, all of earth to sustain those standards against any dred dollars, and walked out with an anti- us who knew him, respected him, and who tried to undermine them. The cynical tank weapon. He later loaded and fired it on loved him were saddened by the death view that everyone has his price met its camera to demonstrate the shocking laxity last month of Walter Sheridan. Walter match and its defeat in Walter Sheridan. of our gun control laws. He said he couldn’t was the outstanding investigator on As Bobby knew, and as those on the other remember what finally happened to the the staff of the Senate Labor and side learned to their dismay, when the going weapon, but he kept it stored somewhere got tough, Walter Sheridan got going. His Human Resources Committee for near- around the house for a while and thought highly principled convictions about the pub- Nancy finally threw it out. ly two decades, and before that, he had lic trust ensured the criminal convictions of Another of his documentaries dealt with been one of Attorney General Robert those who violated that trust. His book organized crime. Walter persuaded a key in- Kennedy’s most trusted and effective about those years is among his lasting leg- formant to speak on camera for the first aides in the Department of Justice. acies—a call for constant vigilance to pro- time about the activities of one of the crime Walter Sheridan lived an tect the public interest against corruption. families. Later, a few of Walter’s friends who extraodinary life, and all of us who In any fight, my brother said, he would al- had gathered to watch the broadcast at the worked with him have many warm ways want Walter on his side. You wanted Sheridans’ home thought the informant on Walter with you in any foxhole, and that is the screen looked familiar, and he was. He memories of his achievements and his why he always seemed to get the most dif- was sitting on the couch in Walter’s living friendship. ficult assignments. He had been in the serv- room, watching the program too. He told I ask unanimous consent that my ice in World War II, and his exploits re- Walter it was the first time he felt truly tribute to Walter last month at Holy minded me of a famous slogan of those safe, because no one would dare try to harm Trinity Church in Georgetown, an ear- years—the difficult we do immediately; the him while Walter was on the case. lier tribute I made to Walter on the oc- impossible takes a little longer. Of course, all of us who knew Walter un- casion of his final hearing at the Labor In the Senate years, each time we settled derstood something else as well—that we on the subject of a new investigation, Walter Committee in 1990, and other materials would never know everything he knew. Busi- would do his famous disappearing act. He’d ness or pleasure, secrets were safe with Wal- may be printed in the RECORD. be away for three or four weeks. ‘‘Walter’s ter. Whether working on an investigation or There being no objection, the mate- gone fishing,’’ we would wink and say, and planning a surprise party, nothing ever rials were ordered to be printed in the everyone knew what that meant. When Wal- leaked. On that point we all agreed—Walter RECORD, as follows: ter surfaced with his catch, all the networks Sheridan kept his mouth shut. TRIBUTE TO WALTER SHERIDAN, BY SENATOR and reporters were there, ready to record it Genius, it is said, is the capacity for tak- EDWARD M. KENNEDY, HOLY TRINITY at our hearings. ing infinite pains, and Walter passed that Walter knew how to follow a paper trail, CHURCH, WASHINGTON, DC, JANUARY 17, 1995 test with flying colors. No one worked hard- find the unfindable document, and make it er or longer or more effectively. But some- ‘‘Some men see things as they are and say, speak truth to power. Once, when the mine times even that wasn’t enough. One of my ‘Why?’ I dream things that never were and owners persuaded the federal agency to dras- brother’s and Walter’s favorite stories from say ‘Why not?’’’ tically weaken protections for health and the McClellan Committee days was about the These words that Robert Kennedy loved safety, it was Walter who uncovered the ir- time they were driving home together after were words that Walter Sheridan lived by. refutable document. The agency had simply working very late one evening. As they drove And what a magnificent life he lived. tried to write the mine owners’ wish list into past the Teamsters Building, they saw the Walter and my brother were exact contem- law—complete with the same spelling and light still on in Hoffa’s office. So they turned poraries, born on the same day, November grammatical mistakes. the car around and went back to work them- 20th, 1925. It took them a little over thirty Walter was also a hero to workers in the selves. years to find each other. But it was inevi- many industries he investigated. I especially It has been said that all men are dust, but table that they would, and now they have think of his coal mine safety investigations. some are gold dust. And that was true of found each other again. Miners and mine safety officials who testi- Walter. In those great years with my brother I suspect some grand investigation is under fied in our Labor Committee hearings would on the McClellan Committee and in the Jus- way in heaven, and that Bobby and Carmine continue to call up Walter for many years, tice Department, he was a regular for touch Bellino finally decided last week, ‘‘We need eager to tell him about the new births and football at Hickory Hill. Everyone wanted to Walter up here on this one.’’ marriages and grandchildren in their lives. be on Walter’s team, including Bobby. To My brother loved to tease Walter about his They knew Walter never stopped caring new friends there, he was always ‘‘Walter,’’ mild demeanor and quiet manner. But as about them, and they loved him for it and never ‘‘Mr. Sheridan,’’ even though they felt Bobby wrote in ‘‘The Enemy Within,’’ Wal- made him part of their family too. the first name was somehow disrespectful ter’s angelic appearance hid a core of tough- For all his warmth and wit, Walter was after reading about Mr. Sheridan in ‘‘The ness. As any wrongdoer well knew, the an- rightly feared by certain kinds of industry Enemy Within.’’ Walter made sure that ev- gelic quality also represented the avenging leaders and government officials—by anyone eryone got to play, no matter how young or angel. misusing their position or abusing their high unathletic. He also mastered the most im- All the Kennedys have lost one of the fin- office. His mission in many of his Senate in- portant rule for those games, which was that est friends we ever knew. Walter Sheridan vestigations was to see that federal regu- there were no rules. was an extraordinary investigator and an ex- lators did not become captives of the indus- And in the sad months and years after traordinary human being. He had a heart as try they regulated. June of 1968, Walter continued to be a fixture large as his ability, and his courage and dedi- Once, a mine worker who worshipped Wal- at Hickory Hill, helping Ethel, helping all of cation to justice and the public interest were ter told us that an official of the Mine Safety us, to carry on. We loved you, Walter, as a unmatched by anyone. Everything he and Health Administration had walked into brother and as a member of our family. touched he left better than he found it. his agency office one day and resigned imme- In a sense, Bobby lived on through Walter. Walter was also family, far and wide. His diately—when he saw the pink message slip In the nearly 20 years that he worked with wife, Nancy, his daughter Hannah, his sons with the notation that ‘‘a Mr. Walter Sheri- me in the Senate, I never met with Walter or Walter, John, Joseph, and Donald, and all dan’’ had called. talked with Walter or laughed with Walter their families and all his fourteen grand- His unique combination of high intel- that I didn’t think of Bobby. As the poet children know how much Walter loved them ligence, low-key manner, and warm person- wrote: ‘‘Think where man’s glory most be- and how deeply he cared for them. The Sheri- ality was an irresistible asset in all his work, gins and ends, and say my glory was I had dan home was always warm and welcoming, and he loved to tell his war stories. During such friends.’’ Our glory is that we had Wal- a continuously open house and gathering his investigation of the pharmaceutical in- ter as a friend. place for the legions of friends he made dustry, two drug company executives told In so many ways, he lived up to the ideals across the years.

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