Pete Domenici: “Senator Bingaman and I are on the floor of the Senate today in a sense to report bad news to the Senate about a…”

“Senator Bingaman and I are on the floor of the Senate today in a sense to report bad news to the Senate about a wonderful New Mexican. Late this morning, in my home city in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. Representative Steve Schiff, 51 years of age, died as a result of a lingering cancer. We both felt we ought to share a few thoughts with the Senate and with our people. So I would just like to say to the Senate that you know when you meet different people in political life certain things stand out about them. Steve Schiff used to almost brag about the fact that he came from Chicago, that he was a Jewish boy from Chicago who came to New Mexico. Some would not want to talk about being from Chicago if they were representing New Mexicans, but somehow or another he kind of thought he would like to tell them that, so he told it to them so often, they never cared. He served as a district attorney and probably was the best prosecutor we have had in terms of getting his job done.”